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Metal Gear Rising Revengeance Demo Impressions

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2013 by danceofthemidnightcandles

Being a long time fan of the Metal Gear Solid series I was intrigued at the idea of making a different style of game within the mythos of Metal Gear. Raiden has never really been that popular a character. From his inception in MGS2, fans have had kind of a love hate relationship with him, fans love to hate him but after MGS4 my curiosity on the character was piqued. What happened to Jack in between 2 and 4 that made him this Katana wielding cyborg? What made him the kind of bad ass that would valiantly stand  against a group of Metal Gear units having lost his arms????? I don’t know but when I first heard news that we might get to hear that story I was pumped. Then suddenly I noticed the project starting to lose momentum, THEN Kojima Productions handed it off to Platinum Games then the game morphed in to something completely different.  So despite this omen I wanted to try it out and considering it is coming out this month and the Demo is out I decided to take a look.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance is SUPPOSED to take place after the events in MGS4 in which Raiden has joined a group of peace soldiers fighting against an evil faction of PMC’s (privatized soldiers). I am kind of disappointed that they didn’t keep the idea of having the story take place in between 2 and 4. MGS4 hints a few times at the fact that Jack couldn’t really handle civilian life with  him becoming cold to Rose and just disappearing off the face of the earth. Obviously he learned tracking skills while he was away, obviously he learned some excellent sword fighting skills while he was away and became the stoic and reserved hero we all knew from MGS4…so why not focus on that aspect o f the story? why not focus on building his character and building his skills which I think would have been an interesting direction to go in. Are we going to learn anything more about his past as a child soldier??? Are we going to learn what became of Rose and their son???  Will this even be of any kind of canon with the games at all???

So far from what I have played of the game (which to be fair isn’t much) I would say no. It’s a semi generic hack n slash with some Metal Gear elements thrown in. The controls are wonky at best and the free cutting ability seems kind of difficult to take control of at times and DEFINITELY feels like the remnants of the Kojima Productions work.  I don’t know if it’s because I am so used to playing the Metal Gear games and I just expect the control style to be similar but it feels odd. Yeah you do have your typical button mashing aspects but the parry system took me way too long to get used to given that out of all the controls they could have possibly picked for the parry I am supposed to use two buttons that are already being utilized when there are a handful of buttons I feel as though aren’t being used at all.  The Hack N Slash element just takes away from the feel of the game for me. You have the same style of Alert system but why would you need it in a Hack N Slash???  it’s not exactly like the Hack N Slash genre is known for it’s excellent stealth mechanics so why even have it in there?

As a fan of the series I am not impressed by what I have seen so far. The game really doesn’t feel like it would add much to the franchise. Like RE6, from the demo alone I am going to have to pass for now on any prospects of buying the game. Maybe in the future when the price comes down and I feel comfortable with spending money on it I will give it another try. I highly recommend checking out the demo yourself  to determine whether or not it’s a game worth checking out. For those of you who are fans of the Hack N Slash genre it’s probably going to be something worth maybe looking in to BUT for the rest of us MGS fans I would recommend holding out hope for Metal Gear Ground Zeroes.

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Chicken Soup For The Ranter’s Soul pt.24 Disc Loadable Content – A rant on the gaming industry and the nature of bad business practices

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on January 20, 2013 by danceofthemidnightcandles

For anyone that has ever come across this site or have seen a few of my videos it should be no surprise to you that I am a mild gamer. Video Games have been a staple in my house since I could remember. From the Super NES to the next gen consoles, I have seen the industry grow and evolve as well as crash and burn. Video Games have come a long way, we went from a hand full of pixels to fully realized high definition animation models but as games have improved in the graphics department there is one area in which games have, in my opinion, definitely taken a step back. Business practices.

Expansions and “DLCs” are nothing new to the gaming industry, a lot of the PC games I played as a kid such as Warcraft and Heroes Of Might And Magic had expansions and patches which featured new weapons and mechanics BUT my beef is not that there is “DLC”  it’s the idea of what “DLC” should be. The recent debacle with Capcom adding disc locked content is to me just a sign of where we are at as far as business practices.Gaming developers have now somehow tricked this console generation into believing that you should pay extra money for weapons or in game side missions and quite frankly I think it’s a scam. Why should I be forced to pay for something that should have been added into the game in the first place? Aren’t games already expensive enough with most of them coming with a $60 price tag and now you want me to pay extra because you couldn’t be bothered to spend a few more months in development adding a few extra weapons or a few extra game mechanics?? Take Skyrim for instance, what did Dawnguard and Hearthfire really add to your experience??? You get a few extra places on your map, a big long side mission which cashes in on the Vampire/Werewolf craze, a crossbow which does absolutely nothing for casters or melee characters and mounted combat which you probably won’t even notice or use AND what kind of price tag does it have? $20.00??? $20.00 for a glorified side mission? Hearthfire offers you the chance to build and customize your own house and is much more enjoyable however with a $5.00 price tag it seems BARELY worth it.

Now Bethesda just released Dragonborn which seems like a legit expansion to the Skyrim experience but then you give Xbox 360 another 30 day exclusive? Let me ask you this, how hard would it really be to port the DLC to the PC version of Skyrim? Considering they probably used a PC to create the game in the first place I would think it would be much easier to develop it NOT to mention there aren’t quite as many restrictions for programming on a PC. I think the main reason they release it onto the 360 first is because 360 users are locked in. Unless you J-tag your system or something along those lines 360 owners can’t pirate games, therefore the only way for them to be able to play a DLC or an expansion is to buy it where as for PC owners it’s as easy as hitting up the bay. Essentially on the PC the players set the price and how much they want to pay for it. You can’t release something lackluster and expect to get full price for it SO instead of remedying the situation by lowering the price of DLC or making DLCs actually worth the money they make you pay for them, they decide to release it to PC owners last so that they can milk 360 users dry and get their money out of them.  Now you could say that there are plenty of reviewers out there that would advise not to buy it if it were bad but to be honest, I don’t think that’s the case.  With the popularity of companies like Bethesda and all of the free swag they give out to game reviewers I would say you would be hard pressed to find an unbiased reviewer ESPECIALLY among the bigger companies like IGN or Gamespot.  When it comes to big name titles I wouldn’t trust my own grandmother with a review so really the only way to know if it’s truly going to be enjoyable is to play it for yourself and with PC owners you can’t force them to pay full retail until they are satisfied enough with the game that they want to support it.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is a scam in and of itself. You have to pay a yearly fee to play online? why is it that no other gaming console or PC makes you do that? Yeah you can argue “well it’s only so much a year” or “It’s only so much a month if you break it down” BUT that’s not the point. Once again you are paying for a service that should be FREE. Something that should already be included, something that should be standard and you have to pay an extra amount for it. If you don’t call that a scam then I would seriously like to know what your definition of that word is. It’s not like an extra app or an extra experience, you have to pay to access that part of your own game. The main reason to buy games like Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefied 3 is to play them online with your friends and you can’t do that on a 360 unless you pay them a toll. Games like WOW are guilty of the same thing BUT at least WOW is not a glorified matchmaking service, with WOW there are entire servers and giant realms that they have to keep and maintain where as Xbox 360 can not say the same thing.

If you want an example of an excellent game from a great company with truly inspiring business practices I would recommend checking out The Witcher 2 from CD Projekt Red. Not only do I love The Witcher 2 and consider one of, if not, my favorite RPGs of all time, CD Projekt Red went the extra mile when it came to giving us a true experience and our money’s worth. There were a multitude of goodies in my copy of the game and on top of that they released a free patch for the Enhanced Version of the game so that the people who bought the original copy of the game could play the enhanced version for free. To me that speaks volumes about the company as a whole and their dedication to not only giving us great games but treating the customer with love and respect for spending their hard earned money. I can tell you this Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 are most definitely games I look forward to picking up and paying cash for.

I think Bethesda and Capcom  are just a few examples of companies that try this kind of stuff. The entertainment industry in general, and many business, have this really bad mindset of  “Hurry up and pay us before you realize we are scamming you” and sadly there is little to nothing the consumers are doing about it. How would you feel if you went out and bought a really nice oven but it doesn’t have a clock on it for say $2000 then a few months down the road the manufacturer says “We can mount a clock into your oven but that will be an additional $500″  I guarantee you, you would buy an oven someplace else, not get the clock or you would give them the big middle finger. So why is it that people are willing to do that with anything else? I can understand wanting to support your favorite publisher but didn’t you give them the stamp of approval when you bought their game? Do you really need to shell out more and more money for unfinished products?

When did we let it get so bad that companies and developers have decided that they don’t need to make a quality product, all they have to do is shove a brand name on it and shove it out the door and essentially trick you out of your money. I understand wanting to make money, because it is what makes the world go around, but why no pride in what you do? Why not try to create the best possible product for the people and inspire loyalty? Why not do your best to make a quality product that say 10 or 20 years down the road people will still have your product in their living room? Why not offer a service to people that is second to none, a service so great that when people think of what a company should embody they think of your company? Instead of trying to trick people into thinking your product is great why not use that time and money to actually create a fully realized product? Instead of milking the people out of their money and leaving them feeling violated companies should work on making people happy that they decided to choose your product. Sadly part of the problem is that consumers don’t pay enough attention to ways they are being scammed and at this point they don’t care which makes it extremely hard for those of us who don’t want to have to pay crooks and swindlers for misdeeds. The way I see it is that we pay for goods and services and with our dollars we are saying we support that companies product or service. If we continue to pay our hard earned money for shoddy and lackluster goods then we are sending the message that that is what we want. So before you decide to go and shell out your money for a video game or anything else try to keep these things in mind.

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Open Beta Impressions: Hawken

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

It doesn’t take very much to make me happy with an FPS title, yet why is it so ridiculously hard to find a shooter that I like??? all I ask is that the hit detection be accurate, the leveling system be fair and the PVP always enjoyable. Well FINALLY my prayers have been answered in glorious free to play fashion. Hawken is the kind of shooter experience I have been craving since I logged off of HiRez’s once excellent title Global Agenda. Developed by independent studio Adhesive Games, Hawken, like many games of yesteryear, is an FPS set in the apocalyptic future in which soldiers on the battlefield have been replaced by giant piloted mechs.
I will admit that I was very skeptical about this game when I saw the press for it at E3 because I am not a huge fan of mech games but I will valiantly proclaim that any doubt was whisked away in the debris of my enemies in my first mission as I blasted them to bits with a tow rocket.
Everyone starts off at level one with the same mech, very few upgrades and with very little knowledge of how your mech works or the countless classes and strategies needed, but thankfully the game has a decent enough tutorial that gives you a heads up on the basics. As of this writing there are only 4 different match setups: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Missile Assault and Siege with every different style of mission having an introductory screen that tells you the premise of each match, making this game pretty much a cinch for those of any gaming experience to pick it up and play.
The classes are varied depending on your play style and each mech can be upgraded to suit your needs. Each class of mech has essentially the same skill tree and depending on the mech you pick and the skills you choose to put points in will ultimately define your experience. There are long range mechs such as the Sharpshooter, mid range mechs such as the Berserker, Assault or Bruiser and there are the mechs that specialize in explosive damage such as the Grenadier and Rocketeer to name a few. Each mech having its own advantages and disadvantages of course.
This game is free to play with a micro-transaction system but honestly right now it’s not absolutely imperative that you buy anything relating to the game. The leveling up is decently paced for those who don’t pay and I don’t really feel that the people who do pay to play have any huge advantages like they seem to in other free to play titles. This may change when the game becomes fully polished and available but I am hoping that the game stays mostly the way it is now. There are boosters for credits and experience as well as different styles of armor and custom paint jobs available if you like the game enough to pay for them but they aren’t absolutely necessary to further yourself in the game.
The only real gripes I have as of this moment is that the maps aren’t all that varied, balancing issues and playing with friends isn’t always easy. It’s pretty much the same 2 or 3 maps over and over again and they can feel very repetitive but honestly it’s not that big of a deal and something that will probably change after the open beta. Balancing doesn’t really seem to happen. The problem is that in team based games (which is pretty much 3 out of the 4 modes) you can end up having a group of highly experienced players with decked out and custom mechs versus a group of noobies with nothing but the first level mech which can lead to many matches where one team gets absolutely stomped. Coming in to the queue can be a dangerous thing because most of the time if it lets you in to a game it’s because one team is getting stomped so bad that players are leaving. I think this is something that affects the game and needs to be looked at  BUT as of right now it’s not so bad that it’s unplayable. Queuing up with a friend is also not really all that possible. If your friend is in a match you can pretty much join them instantly if the server isn’t full however you could wind up playing on the opposite side which can be less than enjoyable if you want to play alongside a clan or guild mate, although this isn’t TOO much of an issue either because most of the time it won’t let you join your friends team if the other team is outnumbered so it really only does it in the interest of fairness and it seems like most of the time it does try to pair you with your friends.
The graphics and sound are absolutely top notch for a free to play game and everything has this very apropos junky post apocalypse feel. I have seen some people complain about the sometimes grainy picture without realizing that this is done for style purposes not because the design team is lazy in any way. For those of us who grew up with PC games in the 90s where mechs dominated the world it’s an awesome throwback to the days of old BUT I can understand that for some the art direction and atmosphere may not be tolerable.
In short, Hawken is a breath of fresh air in a stagnant FPS market full of COD clones. It’s a grungy world full of customizable battle mechs and fast paced gameplay with an extra emphasis on team work and co-ordination HOWEVER nothing is ever forced on you. You can choose to play team objective based games or be a lone ranger and play for kills. Either way nothing is more satisfying than taking your mech headfirst in to battle, throwing out rockets and bullets like Christmas parade candy.  Whether you win or lose a match it’s always immensely enjoyable to play and level up your mech so that you will be better prepared for the next engagement. Anyone who wishes to harken back to the good old days of games like Earthsiege should no doubt be pulling up a second tab in their browsers and registering for the open beta and for those of you maybe don’t like mech games or are still undecided it doesn’t hurt that this game has no price tag which would give you no excuse not to give this game a fair chance.

http://www.playhawken.com/

Now keep in mind that this is just an open beta so the gameplay that is currently in the game may or may not reflect what will be in the game when it launches.

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Playstation All Stars: Battle Royale

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 16, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

Playstation All Stars: Battle Royale is a game that I have been following since last years lackluster E3 conference and finally it has hit store shelves and I have to say I was totally pumped to get this game and that’s saying a lot because after my bad experiences with big name games it’s getting more rare for me to shell out the full asking price for a game BUT I just couldn’t resist being able to jump into a game where I could be Kratos and knock Ratchet into the atmosphere with a fish. BUT of course the real thing people are wondering is ‘Is it any good?’ or ‘Is it worth it?’ WELL I can safely  say maybe.

Presentation and Music: This game definitely doesn’t boast amazingly sharp graphics that will blow your mind BUT it’s definitely not ugly to look at either.  Most of your favorites are rendered in good quality and the maps are your typical for this sort of fare, flat-ish backgrounds set to a foreground of platforms, pretty much settings that feel ripped right from a Super Smash Bros game. I don’t quite understand why the loading screens feel like they take an eternity when the graphics aren’t that amazing really beats me BUT that’s just a minor inconvenience. The one fault with the overall presentation is the sound. The soundtrack to this game couldn’t get any more generic most times, I don’t really get the feeling that they used much of the original soundtracks for the games that the characters are from. For instance I didn’t really hear any of the Metal Gear themes for Raiden which is kind of a big deal considering Metal Gear is one of my favorite franchises and ultimately one of the games that put Playstation on the map. I have noticed that Sony is kind of lazy when it comes to acquiring rights sometimes so it’s not that big of a surprise that they didn’t really gather much of the music from the franchise. Though to be honest, most of the time you will be engrossed in the game enough not to really notice any of the music anyway so it really doesn’t matter all that much it’s just a minor nitpick.

Story:
There  isn’t much of a story to any of the battles, granted most fighting games aren’t particularly focused on the story , this game seems to skip story lines all together in favor of a set of static pictures or character models that pretty much just stand there and explain who the character is and a bit of their motivations. While I am not expecting something mind blowing as far as a story I would still like to see two of my favorite characters meet and maybe have some dialogue like they do just before you get to the final boss battle.

Game Play: Game play wise there isn’t really much to write home about, once again it’s pretty standard fare for this sort of game. I haven’t gotten much in to the online multiplayer for this game which seems to be one of the games main focuses so I am mostly going to go on what I have played single player. Arcade mode is somewhat of a joke, being ridiculously easy on the normal setting but I get the feeling we would have cheating AI if I put it on the highest difficulty setting. I beat Arcade mode 3 times within the first couple of hours of playing only having to use one continue out of the 3 characters I used. BUT my biggest problem with the game isn’t in the gameplay mechanics as much as it is the selection.
The character roster isn’t really all that impressive here and I am kind of disappointed with it. There aren’t really any character unlockables and I think this really hurts the game in a way. Yeah it’s kind of annoying having to run through Arcade mode a bunch of different times to get your ONE favorite character but that gives you that much more incentive to keep playing. The unlockables that you do get are no more than changing from one generic song to another or changing in between 2 different costumes. You also get to pick your taunts and intros but who cares? half the time you are going to skip them anyway. I think I was more surprised at characters that were left out. What about Cloud or Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7??? What about Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid??? what about Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 2 and 4??? What about Laura Croft from Tomb Raider??? Crash Bandicoot??? Spyro???  We are talking about games that pretty much defined the game play experience for the Playstation and Playstation 2, my guess is that once again they got lazy about acquiring rights for those characters.
The final boss battle is anything but climactic, where in Super Smash Brothers you have the giant hand that can pretty much destroy you effortlessly here we have a giant face that can’t seem to hit you as long as you are to the far left or right of your screen.  All he does is spawn the same characters you fought throughout the other stages and once those are defeated you just hit him a couple of times and you are done. The stages don’t seem to get any tougher and the only real toughness comes from the character you choose instead of level progression from stages.
There is also Combat Trials which is essentially just putting you into various challenges much like any typical fighting game which I think is mostly an exercise in tedium. From what I have played of multiplayer it seems alright, there are ranks but they don’t really mean anything other than showing how many man hours you have put in to the game. There didn’t seem to be much of a bracketing system so a level 1 can ultimately face a level 100 BUT since the levels mean next to nothing and the game doesn’t change that much online it doesn’t really matter.

Verdict: If I had to give this game a definitive score it would be a 5.5 to 6 out of 10.Overall I would have to say this game is lackluster for a title in the fighting games genre. With so many fighting game titles that have way more of your favorite characters to choose from like Marvel Vs. Capcom, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Street Fighter Vs. Tekken or Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe  it makes me wonder why Sony didn’t fight hard to get as many classic characters from Playstation past and present to put in to the game. The main draw to a game like this is being able to get into a match and duke it out with all of your favorites and settle age old rivalries but with the exclusion of some of the Playstation greats and no real character unlockables it feels more like an unfinished product. The overall feeling I got was that they could have done so much more with it and if they didn’t want to do more with it at least make sure you add as many characters as you can and make the game at least feel pleasing to fans of the Playstation. The only way I could give this game a solid recommendation is if you have a good group of friends to play with online or possibly if you hold a lot of house parties with gamers around, other than that you aren’t really going to get much enjoyment out of the game.

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Chicken Soup For The Ranter’s Soul pt.23 Apathy For The Devil

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

I figured with the upcoming elections in November and the recently held RNC and DNC it is time for your neighborhood friendly ranter to assume his role back on the soapbox…BUT this time things are a little different. I am not going to try the stereotypical thing and plug a candidate. I think at this point most people have probably already made up their mind as to what party they have their allegiances to and who they think better fits the role of Commander In Chief.  Now don’t get me wrong this rant is going to be completely politically charged BUT not for the same reasons that you might think.

At a bit  younger of an age I had an insatiable appetite to help change the political arena. the second I was eligible to vote I was down at the courthouse registering myself and it turns out my first election is one that made history when we elected our first black president. Now as a younger adult  I could never understand why people weren’t as enthusiastic about voting, I just couldn’t understand how people could be so uninterested in the way our country was run or in the policies and procedures that help our great nation to be free but as I have grown older I have begun to realize something. The more and more I listen to politicians, the more and more the media stirs up controversy, the more and more I hear people argue and fight is the more and more I realize that politics are the most dangerous threat our country faces today.

What originally spurred this was a post that I read about Glenn Beck and how he is going to boycott American Airlines because he felt as though he was treated unfairly on a recent trip to New York. Now I think I have already established that I am not a huge fan of Glenn Beck. I don’t discredit everything the man says because quite honestly I think he brings up quite a few really good points and things that I believe should be addressed BUT he is also pretty paranoid and at times comes across to me as a self absorbed martyr for his own cause.  Problem #1 for me was that the article I read felt terribly biased against Beck, granted it did come from Yahoo and they have a pretty bad liberal leaning bias in my opinion BUT the post made it out as though Beck was just a loon and that someone not opening his can of soda on the airplane was his ultimate grounds for his need to boycott American Airlines.While I don’t necessarily disagree that Beck is a little looney, I think the truth is somewhere in the middle here. I think he really was treated unfairly by the airlines due to his rather controversial stance on most political issues but that was just a bit of a segue  in to what disturbed me the most about the article. The comments section.

Now normally I am not one to read the comments on anything Yahoo posts ESPECIALLY politically . Debating politics with people on the internet or almost any forum is like being a butcher and trying to get a vegan to buy a pork chop, at the end of the day no one is satisfied. But for some reason I was just drawn to see what other people would say to get a general consensus on what they thought about it. I have to say after reading the comments on that post that I am truly and deeply ashamed to share the same continent with such neanderthals,pounding their arms on the ground and throwing feces at all who oppose them. Now before anyone wants to burn me at the stake because I am defending Glenn Beck I am going to come right out and say that I am not biased when it comes to that kind of speech, BOTH SIDES were utterly reprehensible in their language towards one another.

I will be the first to admit that I am not the most pleasant individual in the world, far from it I am a cynic and a misanthrope, but even I can’t stand to see that level of utter disrespect. The level of viciousness towards our fellow man is quite frankly appalling and unhealthy.  Politics have ceased to become a forum in which people can discuss the inner workings of our government and more like a place that people can go to push out their own personal morality on either sides of the spectrum. .  What have we become as a nation when our own people are so vehemently attacking one another for a belief system regardless of what that belief system may be??? It’s quite sad that people are willing to lose their civility over an argument on one semi-famous individual boycotting a service, which he has every right to do. If Glenn Beck wants to boycott them because they didn’t give him a free drink on his plane ride then who cares??? Is it a bit overzealous? absolutely but it’s his right to boycott an establishment for any reason he chooses and if people wish to follow him because he is popular than so be it. Why do politics and personal beliefs have to be brought in to every arena as if every issue is now a platform? I can understand debating on an issue that is politically charged like the budget or national security but to make this an issue is to make all politics and things therein a big joke.

The divisiveness that politics evokes is something that is tearing our country apart and people are too blind to notice it. A two party system with two separate but radical ideas of  not only how to run our government but on how to dictate social policies is dangerous. As Americans we need to stop trying to draw lines in the sand and come to the realization that we are in this together. This is OUR land, we need to act like adults and come to the table to discuss, not to argue and fight like children who want it their way. We need to stop choosing sides and start making the best possible choices for our nation as a whole with both sides in mind.  Politics has gotten this far out of hand because WE the people have let it. Unlike any other country in the world it’s WE the people that are the safeguards of our country, it’s WE the people that are responsible for the decisions that people in power make. In order to change the politics of our world we must first change ourselves and how we view each other.

Imagine for just a moment, if you will, that we did away with the two parties. It would ultimately force us to vote not on the merit of the party but on the merit of the candidate.  What if the politicians had no more platforms but to serve our country as best they can and make decisions to benefit the nation NOT their party? Imagine a world in which politicians could no longer play smoke and mirrors games and hide behind a party platform. It would force them to be honest or be better exposed as being fake. Perhaps people could look upon each other as human beings with different viewpoints instead of enemies.

For the first time in my life I can understand their apathy, I can understand their frustration and pessimism.  What good is it to pick a side when both sides aren’t helping, When both sides are wrought with corruption and petty divisiveness? Is it really worth arguing an ideological principle to something when nobody cares about each others ideologies??? Is it really worth the time and the effort to argue something in which nothing is going to change  and both sides are stuck at a stalemate? Our system is broken and it’s time we come to terms with the fact that we have helped to create  the mess we are in.  Our debt is astronomical, our unemployment is enormous and our focus is on petty arguments? how about we ensure that our nation will survive another 100 years before we start arguing about morality or the lack thereof? how about we stop letting the government dictate our social choices? how about we start taking personal responsibility for our actions and how we treat each other? how about we start loving our neighbors as we love ourselves??? Is it too much to ask for people to have a certain amount of common courtesy and respect for each other??? Is it too much to ask for an argument to remain civil instead of one person stamping off in a huffy or one person calling someone a big fat meany head for not agreeing with them???  Am I crazy for believing that the American people are better than this, that the American people can band together in a great hour of need and make hard choices? Am I crazy for believing that two people can disagree and at the end of the day still respect and love one another???

A friend said to me (and I am paraphrasing) in reference to not voting for Mitt Romney “If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem” but what if the problem is that things won’t change regardless of who we vote for this election???  What if we  have trapped ourselves in a vicious cycle of trying to find someone who will fix our problems when in reality the only one that can fix it is us?? We thought Obama would fix it, he didn’t, we think Romney will fix it and what then??? Once again I find we are trying to bandaid cancer…we are hemorrhaging and we are trying to stop the bleeding with a paper towel. We need to get to the root cause of our issues and in order to do that we have to dismantle the system and check all the parts. It’s time we take apart the engine of America, clean it, and put it back together. We need to run more smoothly, more efficiently, we need to clean the system so well that we run faster and stronger than we ever have. For too long we have let the grime and the grease build up.  It’s time to take it back to the foundations and put it all back together. I am not saying we have to change everything and I am not saying we should all hold the same viewpoints on every issue. What I am saying is that it’s about time people stop hating one another for the way they believe, its time for people to start treating one another with respect and dignity and it’s about time we band together as Americans living under the great banner of the United States Of America.

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Toonami Returns

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , , on May 29, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

It is now 5/27/2012, the day after Toonami made its triumphant return thanks to loyal fan support and I can honestly say I am beyond disappointed with Cartoon Network.  For all of you who are wondering what Toonami is, it was a programing lineup on cartoon network that focused on action animation and eventually went on to debut some of the greatest anime in North America such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z (although chances are if you are on my site you KNOW what Toonami is). Recently on 4/1/2012 Adult Swim brought back Toonami as an April Fools gag but due to fan support the network decided that bringing it back in full was a good idea.
I grew up watching Toonami, some of my greatest childhood memories were staying up late at night so I could catch the midnight run. so when I found out what the lineup was going to be I was devastated. No Dragon Ball Z??? Sailor Moon??? Yu Yu Hakusho???? Rurouni Kenshin??? Naruto???? Knights Of The Zodiac??? Where are all the classic shows that made Toonami great???? Your April Fools runthrough had a great lineup so what happened???
Word around the campfire is that Cartoon Network has a ridiculously low budget for the return of Toonami which is understandable because things cost money but you can’t expect fans to be pleased when you tease them with a lineup that is near and dear to them and then dash that to pieces. If Cartoon Network would have devoted more time and attention to creating or acquiring quality shows instead of schlockey mediocre randomness on camera then it wouldn’t be in a tough financial spot. Furthermore I just can’t believe that Cartoon Network doesn’t have the money to bring back shows that are over 10 years old and the catalog for their lineups is HUGE, yet you are trying to tell me they couldn’t find ONE of those old anime titles that was fairly priced? It would be easy for them to drop a franchise like Full Metal Alchemist (which has been playing and replaying on Adult Swim for years now) OR Ghost In The Shell (which has had a similar run on Adult Swim) and pick up some of those older shows to get the fan base to come back. I think fans would have been satisfied to have seen just one original property of Toonami come back but instead we were greeted with the same shows that I am sure are probably losing Cartoon Network  money. To be honest it seems less like an attempt to appease fans and more like a gimmick to get you to watch the same tired old line-up that they have been pushing for years.
When I heard Toonami was coming back I was completely overjoyed and I was holding out hope that some of my favorite Toonami properties would return but instead I get Adult Swim with a Toonami header. What’s the point? it’s not Toonami plain and simple. Just because you can bring back TOM doesn’t suddenly make your programming any better and I am not willing to wade through your tired old programming to get to stuff I want to see, it just isn’t worth it. You are attempting to hold the fans hostage and extort them without even a good will gesture that would show us that you are willing to compromise. You gave us back TOM but didn’t change your model and that is your mistake.  Don’t get me wrong the shows I have mentioned are not exactly fresh or new but they have a nostalgia factor and I would pay money to watch them on Toonami.

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Chicken Soup For The Ranter’s Soul Pt.22 We Are The Oxbow Incident

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

Your neighborhood friendly ranter has really been down for the past couple of weeks and extremely unsure of whether or not to truly even write something on this.  I am mainly unsure  as to how big a part the media and the general public should play in criminal trials in America. On one hand injustices still happen and they are a part of life and we as citizens should work to see that they are as minimal as possible BUT on the other hand when the American people get involved in  a criminal case we ALMOST ALWAYS choose a side (I am guilty of it myself at times) and convict the person on trial before the case even starts. For some reason I feel like the way our media and general public handles thoughts of justice is just wrong in my opinion and this fact couldn’t be more evident than in the case of Trayvon Martin.

Chances are most of you have heard of the Trayvon Martin case but on the chance that you haven’t here is a brief synopsis. Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old male who was shot in a gated community by George Zimmerman (a member of the neighborhood watch) the circumstances surrounding his death are largely unknown given that the media has admittedly doctored quite a bit of the evidence that has been presented to the general public. BUT what is known is that Trayvon Martin was walking around in the middle of the night with a hoodie on in a gated community, George Zimmerman called the cops requesting assistance. After the call and despite the advice of the police dispatcher he tried confronting Trayvon who allegedly attacked Zimmerman and in defense Zimmerman shot and killed him. Rallies have been held all over America calling for the arrest of George Zimmerman and just recently Zimmerman has been charged with 2nd degree murder and is in police custody.

Before I go in to the problems with this case and the way the media and the general public views it I will go in to my own OPINION based on what facts seem to present. I believe that George Zimmerman saw a young man walking around in the middle of the night with his face covered in a hoodie in a gated community and he looked suspicious, George Zimmerman then followed the young man and spooked him causing the young man to attack  which resulted in the fatal shooting.

NOW on to the problems with the way the general public and the media has handled this case. First of all, is it me or do people really live under the illusion that they don’t get judged based on the way they look? I mean seriously join the rest of us in that thing we call reality. If you don’t believe you get judged based on appearance try going in to any job interview wearing a pair of old beat up jeans , the nastiest most offensive shirt you can find and then shave your head into a mowhawk then dye it blue and see how quickly you get a job. An employer HAS to judge you based on appearance because your resume may say you have a masters degree but the reflection of your personality says you are going to cause issues. It’s the same thing with the rest of us, we don’t really have time to get to know EVERY little thing about somebody so sometimes we have to go based on how someone looks or appears at a first glance. If you honestly don’t think a guy walking around in the middle of the night with a hood on in a gated community doesn’t look suspicious then you are dead wrong. You just can’t have your cake and eat it too, if you want your appearance to look zany or out of place then you can’t really be shocked or surprised if people treat you differently because you have caused that problem yourself.  It’s not a crime to wear a biker jacket with a swastika, a rebel flag and a maltese cross on it but you can’t exactly be surprised if people don’t trust you or treat you like a white supremacist. It’s the law of survival, if you look like you are up to no good then that is the way people are going to treat you. The part that bothers me about this one is that all of the sudden I am the bad guy for speaking the truth. The funniest thing someone said to me is that I have no right to judge someone based on appearance, actually I kind of do have the right to judge people based on whatever I want, that doesn’t mean it’s right but I have the right to do it.  I am not going to hate someone because what they are wearing but common sense tells me that if you are wearing something that makes you stand out or makes you appear threatening  I am obviously going to want to avoid you or believe that you are not a great person until you prove to me otherwise.

People are always on me because I point out the simple fact that Trayvon Martin was out in the middle of the night in a gated community wearing a hood and I call that an irresponsible action. People think that just because I say that, that all of the sudden I support shooting people walking around at night or shooting people that look suspicious and that is obviously not the case. I believe this was a lapse of judgement on the part of two individuals BUT people always want to use the rape scenario which quite frankly is the most overly used and cliched arguments of all time. Do I believe Trayvon Martin should have been shot, absolutely not, but do I believe that he put himself in that position and people shouldn’t be surprised that he got shot? yes. A woman walking around in the middle of the night shouldn’t EXPECT to be raped but she should know that going out at night is dangerous for ANYONE and common sense dictates that it probably isn’t a good idea. Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t make it a good idea. Not to mention Rape is a malicious crime and most people don’t call the cops and try to gauge a situation before raping someone. This was an accident and obviously even the courts believe it if they are only willing to charge Zimmerman with 2nd degree murder (which is a murder charge that involves an accident) It’s not like Zimmerman intended to shoot Trayvon, it’s just a situation that got out of hand.

There is so much circular reasoning in this case that it’s not even funny. One moment Sabrina Fulton believes it’s an accident, the next she doesn’t. One moment people are saying that police doctored evidence yet they believe the police should have handled the call. The media has admittedly doctored evidence in this case yet no one is calling them in to question. No one is rallying against the news organizations for misleading us when they are supposed to be fair and unbiased. If  journalism is examining the news and putting your own opinion to it then I am already a qualified journalist.

Do I believe Zimmerman was in the right for shooting Trayvon? not really, he should have heeded the advice of the police dispatcher. Do I believe that Trayvon Martin was the brightest crayon in the box for walking around in the middle of the night with a hoodie on? probably not. Do I believe that this should be thoroughly investigated and a trial should be held? absolutely. BUT the media has demonized both sides. Trayvon Martin was no saint but neither was Zimmerman and is dragging both of their names through the mud going to change the terrible events that took place? Zimmerman could be innocent or he could be guilty, I can’t decide that because I don’t have all the facts BUT what I do know is that the America has already decided his guilt, his life and his reputation have already been smeared and tarnished no matter if he is guilty or innocent and quite frankly that is wrong. How many of you who rallied against George Zimmerman, how many of you who have bared false witness against him, and  how many of you who believe he is guilty until proven innocent will apologize to George Zimmerman if it turns out you were wrong??? What if he was justified and really was defending himself? will you stand up and admit that your brand of justice doesn’t work? you have sullied the name of someone whose guilt or innocence hasn’t been proven, yet you will nominate a remorseless woman beater for a grammy? I am sure that if it turns out George Zimmerman is innocent those same people will shrug their shoulders and say “Eh” or they will rally against him anyway saying that the trial wasn’t fair. Either way America has become one big Oxbow Incident after another and I simply can not stand for that.

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Top 5: Favorite Female Characters On Film

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

It’s time for me to open up the store, jump out from behind the counter and round out another top 5. If there is one thing that will attract me to a movie faster than anything else it’s a compelling female lead. There is nothing more interesting to me than the female mind and some of the fascinating portrayals of their character that writers can come up with on the silver screen.  Often times I feel like the characters that are created for leading ladies are focused on far more for physical appearance than the actual characters themselves so I wanted to take the time to analyze them in a little bit more detail.

5.Lisa Rowe
You can’t exactly have a countdown of interesting female characters without at least one psycho on the list. Lisa Rowe is the sociopathic best friend of Susanna in the movie Girl,Interrupted. The acting of Angelina Jolie in this role is absolutely impeccable.It should really be of no surprise that not only was this the role that catapulted Jolie in to the stratosphere of leading female actresses but it is also the movie that won her a well deserved Oscar. I mean who would have ever thought she could play someone who is criminally insane so well? The first time I saw this movie I remember being absolutely mesmerized by this character. She is like this odd psycho sexual mix of Hannibal Lecter and The Joker but at the same time something about her character seems rather harmless, because like a good psychopath most of her power comes from manipulation and mind games so essentially without them she is powerless. It’s interesting to see the dynamics between Susanna and Lisa because while Susanna is her own person you can definitely see where Lisa has a strong influence over the way she acts during her stay in the mental hospital.  Eventually the influence becomes so strong that the main focus of the story shifts to Susanna breaking away from Lisa’s control and finding who she is. What makes her a dangerous antagonist is the fact that she is a subtle villain and comes across more like the devil in the back of your mind. The strong commandeering personality of Lisa is effectively a catalyst for change and it’s fascinating to see how environment and more importantly the characters of your environment effect your very being.  Definitely one of my favorite characters regardless of gender.

4.Madea
If there is one thing that Tyler Perry deserves the most accolades for it is definitely Madea. This feisty grandma is probably one of the best comedy characters of all time and has spawned tons of plays and movies. Tyler Perry’s influence on the comedy genre is so great that I see cheap knockoffs of his movies at Walmart ALL THE TIME.  There is something unique and so real about the way Madea is that I can’t help but feel so drawn to the character. She is so true to life that I often find myself comparing her to my mother and some of my other family members and I think that is what has made her character so enduring. People see that old school style of tough love, humor, and uplifting encouragement and they undoubtedly see it in the family that surrounds them. In an age when comedy can be so crass and vulgar Madea seems to stay on the edge between the in your face style of the new generation but still keeping in line with the values and soul warming messages of the wiser older generation,which makes her speak to both young and old audiences alike. She is tough and independent, she is witty and at the end of the day she always knows the right thing to say to make your spirit soar from whatever low place it may be in.

3.Empress Wan 
I can’t say enough good things about The Legend Of The Black Scorpion (The Banquet) and I think one of the most compelling  parts of the story is the female antagonist played by the always beautiful Ziyi Zhang.  She is probably one of the most unfortunate villains (if she could really be called that) on film. Her childhood best friend/psuedo love interest Prince Wu Luan moves away to study in the mountains so she ends up marrying his father, the emperor, and the emperor is killed by his brother who she eventually marries.  It’s like a badass martial arts infused episode of Chinese  Jerry Springer. Though the new Emperor Li is cunning and so is Wu Luan they are both not even close to a match for Empress Wan who easily outsmarts the both of them. Hell hath no fury like a woman on a power trip and she uses the affections of both men to control them. However,there is a bit of subtle complexity to her character because it always seems like she goes out of her way to protect Wu Luan but what makes the character so interesting is that it is never really known if she is going out of her way to protect him because she loves him or because he is the best chance she has at usurping the throne. In the end when she finally does achieve power at the cost of both men she seems sad and lonely and in a way when she finally gets her comeuppance  you almost feel bad for her. Here is a woman that was abandoned by her childhood friend and love, married to his father who was killed and essentially forced in to a marriage that she had little control over, so you can sort of see where her sense of loneliness, abandonment and complete disregard for the feelings of others comes from. She is a compelling character because even though she takes the viewpoint of the ends justifying the means and she does terrible things she still seems to have a character that I can connect with.

2. Juno
Juno was by no means an oscar winning movie but it did introduce us to the very likable character of Juno Macguff. Pretty much from her first few lines in the movie I was absolutely in love with this character. Juno was the kind of girl I dreamed of dating in High School but never actually met. She lives and speaks a language all her own and it’s a special sort of uniqueness that is lost on most people. I think had this movie been about a girl in college it might not have been quite as moving to see Juno struggle with the situations. It’s so refreshing to see a movie focus on the time of high school where you are both most creative and most vulnerable because you are beginning to learn the most about who you are and added to that is the compounded problem of this very rash adult decision. Juno is dealing with all of these emotions that are running rampant, trying to define her relationship with Paulie and deal with the average day to day activities of a normal high school student. She seems to have this quality of independence in the face of being in WAY over her head which is takes a certain strength that not even the toughest men have.  I think the one thing that I like about the movie is that Juno really is a sort of more positive role model for teenagers. I am not saying she has the best decision making skills or the most ladylike dialogue in the world BUT she at least accepts the consequences of her impetuous decision in a positive way even if it isn’t the easiest way and she handles it with a certain amount of haphazard grace that only Juno Macguff can exhibit. While the story takes place in high school I think the appeal of Juno Macguff is universal, the woman who stands strong in the center of the storm and even though she has weaknesses, in the end she will fight to overcome all obstacles.

1.Elizabeth Bennet
Ok so I may have a crush on Keira Knightly and maybe I have a thing for English accents from women but that is MOST DEFINITELY not the reason I chose Elizabeth Bennet from the 2005 adaptation of Pride And Prejudice. In my opinion Elizabeth Bennet is probably the most well written female character of all time.(which is not exactly surprising given she was written by one of the greatest female writers of all time) Elizabeth is independent, smart, and witty and although she is not the prettiest of her sisters she is without question the most outspoken. In a society where the worth of a woman is not measured in her merit alone but how promising her suitors are, Elizabeth stands tall as the only woman who isn’t interested in a potentially advantageous marriage which makes her a bit of an outcast and I think that is what draws so many people to the character. In the book she stands out because she is a defined individual not influenced by the society of the time and will blatantly state her aversion to any social policies she deems unfit , which gives her a sort of rough charm and it is the same per the movie however the movie seems to focus a bit more on a sort of quiet elegance within Elizabeth that Keira Knightly lends to the character with flawless execution. The book focuses on the instant distaste between Darcy and Elizabeth however this particular adaptation clearly establishes more of an attraction between the two and makes Elizabeth’s decisions in the social and romantic arenas that much more difficult. Despite her rather brash and sour manner towards society, men and particularly Darcy, she is still at heart very soft and nurturing which is evident in her affections toward her eldest sister Jane. The dynamic between Elizabeth and her mother is something I feel like a lot of women can relate to because while the personalities of Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth are different, and she often teases her mother for her outlook on the world, in the end they do exhibit a very loving but sometimes contentious relationship.  One of the most attractive qualities in her is that in the end she isn’t afraid to be humbled by her circumstance and admit that she was wrong and I can’t help but wonder why things like this don’t happen that often in our society? I believe it’s because our society is far too proud and arrogant and we have been teaching ourselves that we can never be wrong about anything. So it only adds to the overall realistic and human portrait of Elizabeth. BUT the reason Elizabeth Bennet gets top spot is because she is the quintessential strong and positive character that I believe a lot of women can admire. She may not be the prettiest girl aesthetically and she may not be societies prime choice or ideal woman but in reality she is more unique and attractive in her own way that far exceeds any standards. She is who she is and doesn’t make excuses for it. I think far too often women get this notion that all guys are looking for a Victoria Secret Angel with half a brain and this is an outlook forced on us by society but the truth is that there are quite a few guys out there that are just looking for someone who is independent and real. There is nothing more beautiful than the authentic and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

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Chicken Soup For The Ranter’s Soul pt.21 It’s Your Decision

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 24, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

It’s time to air out my lungs, shake the dust off my bones and wipe the sleep away from my eyes. Oh political rants, how bittersweet is our relationship? I have truly missed you and at the same time I have truly enjoyed finding ways to ignore you but today, you just wouldn’t let me be.  Faster than a Mormon baptism, more powerful than a Mitt Romney punchline (I don’t know if that is really saying much) your Neighborhood Friendly Ranter is back and ready to take on this election cycle.
First of all you can’t do a 2012 election rant without first doing a tale of the tape. IN THE BLUE CORNER: weighing in at an impressive 10 tons, most of which happens to be his head (the rest of which happens to be left over commemorative plates and campaign buttons), Hailing from the great state of Hawaii (long form or the short form, which ever you prefer) Barrack Obama. AND IN THE RED CORNER: Undecided….BUT the candidates are Charcoal Grey, Charcoal Black, Sepia and Ron Paul.
Now, I know what people who read that are thinking “Well obviously you aren’t going to give the other candidates a chance in your rant because you support Ron Paul”. Well let me tell you something…you are absolutely right. I am not going to give the other candidates a chance in this rant, kind of like most of the Republican supporters and analysts didn’t give Dr. Paul a chance or  any kind of true press coverage that they gave to big names like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum. The fact of the matter is that I AM a Ron Paul supporter and the way Republicans have treated Dr. Paul with such disrespect in simply dismissing him and his followers as hippie pot smoking youngsters who have no clue about real life makes me sick, no wonder you guys lost the last election. Yeah, just alienate the base of voters that will eventually run this country (Yeah I know, even I shutter at that thought a little.
Republicans dismiss Paul because he doesn’t fit in with their clique. If he doesn’t want to bomb the Jesus in to Muslims in Iran, spend the same kind of money all politicians do or infringe upon the constitution (you know that little old piece of parchment that founded our country) then he just isn’t a Republican.  The problem is that Dr. Paul’s ideas make sense and they are constitutionally sound and that scares a lot of politicians because if he becomes president they might actually have to follow the rules. He is the only candidate that wants to get us back on track to the strong nation we used to be, yet because he talks about cutting all these government programs out of our lives he looks like a bad guy. BUT riddle me this, what programs that are passed have terrible sounding names? I mean what programs are out there that are useless that would have a name like “Department of basket weaving”. Take for instance the SOPA and PIPA bills that people were so ardently against. What name did they have? “Stop Online Piracy Act” and “Protect Ip Act”. well what would it look like if I said “No I don’t want to pass the Stop Online Piracy Act” or “I don’t support the Protect Ip Act”. MAYBE just MAYBE there are other bills with clever little names that make it seem as though they do something useful when really they don’t and who would know those programs better? me or a person who has served in congress like Dr. Ron Paul? He wants the government to be in a minimalist state AND THAT my friends is why he will never be the president. The machine has grown so large that any resistance is futile.
I like to compare the government and citizen roles to that of a junkie and his pusher. The Government is our pusherman (cue Curtis Mayfield) and we are the junkies. You get one shot of that government assistance and you are hooked and all of the sudden you want it, you need it BUT eventually that dosage that you took to get by at first just isn’t working anymore so you take more assistance until eventually you are now chemically dependent on that government money. So who are you going to vote for? the guy who wants to feed your habit or the guy who wants to clean you up, sober you up and turn you in to a productive member of society? The government is the drug lord and anyone that opposes will be weeded out.  This country is on Government owned life support, with all of these programs being pumped in to keep our vital signs JUST BARELY stable. Whether it is Mitt Romney or Barrack Obama the outcome is the same, our course will not be correct and our country will slip deeper and deeper in to its complacent coma.
The problem is that fundamentally most of these politicians don’t really differ from each other. Mitt Romney is in line with a lot of the same ideas on health care and big government spending that Obama is keen on and I am sure Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich wouldn’t be any different. Essentially your choices in this election are a bad president for another term or a new bad president that just changes enough to say he changed something. As a matter of fact I think that should be the new candidate slogan for most presidents “Change at the minimal level” or maybe “Just enough change to say I am a little bit different”.
In conclusion: to say that this election really determines the fate of our great nation would be an understatement, the true change could happen but I believe the American people don’t want change. The American people want status quo.  They want change but they don’t want to sacrifice anything for it…they don’t want to give up free money or assistance and tighten their belts a little.I think quite possibly the saddest thing I ever read was a Youtube comment that I really believe sums up the feelings in America today. When talking about Ron Paul one commenter said (and I am paraphrasing here) “All  he does is quote the constitution, he doesn’t know anything”. I was both outraged and stunned that someone would make such a comment. The document that outlines our freedoms and the inner clockworkings of our nation, The document that sets the standard for all laws and the document that is second only to the Declaration Of Independence being referenced as if it were some sort of ancient text that means nothing. We are talking about a document that our service men and women live to protect, a single piece of parchment paper that so many of our brothers and sisters have laid down their lives for AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY to reference it as if it is unimportant. People should be more appalled that someone DIDN’T mention the constitution. The fact that he wants to get our country back to following the constitution would reason number ONE to vote for him. The America that used to roll up its sleeves to get to work, The America that used to live in the idea of freedom above all things, The America that would rather die independent than live under the thumb of another, The America that promised to defend itself from all threats foreign and DOMESTIC is over. Sadly to most people now the constitution is a dated set of principles that people learn about in school and much like most history has no real practical applications.

Side Note:  So essentially what sparked this rant was a stand up act by lackluster comedian Bill Maher in which he made a rather large and general statement like most people are prone to doing and implying that most of the people that didn’t support health care were idiots who just didn’t want to be well. “Democrats just want you to be well”  which is all fine and good but I should be able to opt out of a Government controlled healthcare system because lets all face it, the government wouldn’t be able to run a lemonade stand let alone an entire healthcare system that spans the country. These are the people that can’t get the budget right and almost shut down because of it, the people that can barely get my mail to me on time, the people that take almost a month to give me back my own money, the people who are pretty much responsible for your long line at the DMV, The people that send a letter to tell you that they are going to send you a letter…and these are the people you are trusting with your health and well being? good choice Maher government run health care is a GREAT idea…as long as YOU are paying for it and I can opt out of it. Maybe if YOU thought intelligently for a moment you would realize that some of the policies that Obama wanted to implement have been tested in Mass. (ironically by Mitt Romney) and have not really done so well. Did you ever stop to think that maybe having the government with their hands in every system and their hands on our money ALL THE TIME isn’t exactly the best thing sometimes.  Mr. Maher, the problem  is that you are just as narrow minded as the people you preach against the only difference is that you have the facade of “Democracy” and money to hide behind. If there is one thing that is evidenced by you and your kind (this includes all of your Fox News rivals) it is that elitism and arrogance knows no true bounds.

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Skyrim Glitch pt.2

Posted in Rants with tags , , , , , , on February 18, 2012 by danceofthemidnightcandles

The first person to spot what is out of place gets a cookie!

I assure you that this is NOT a mod, this is the Xbox360 version of the game.  The funny thing is that at first I thought that they were one entity so I started fighting one of them and it pissed off all of them and I soon came to find out that nope they are all separate NPCs.  So apparently my character can enter the matrix as he chooses.

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