Wiwille's movie reviews part 83

Can't believe it's been over eighty films that has appeared on this list of movie reviews. It all started years ago with a simple idea of watching movies and writing about them, at the reader's request, so here goes with latest film, "When Worlds Collide".

"When Worlds Collide" is about an astronomer who discovers that a star is on a collision course with Earth, and is laughed at by the scientific and political community for his doomsday predictions. He has a few believers who fund his idea of building a spaceship to colonize a new planet around the new star. The construction of the ship doesn't go smoothly as people fight for a right to have a seat on it. A lottery is done to choose who gets to survive or not.

As expected the star comes closer and closer to Earth and wreaks havoc. Violence ensues when people start to riot for a place on the spaceship. Others countries build their own ships and have the same results. Finally the new astronauts take off into the cosmos to rebuild the human race at their new home.

"When Worlds Collide" is shot and set in the early fifties and the production shows. It's look is horribly dated. Like a lot of the sci-fi films at that time, it's plot is an allegory to cold war paranoia. Even with cheesy special effects and art design, it's a good story and far more believable than most current disaster films, and not as cynical. For an old sci-fi film it holds up rather well.

"Dated but enjoyable end of the world flick." - Ken Hanke

Overrated films part 30

Teens don't have discriminating tastes like most adults, who've grown to refine their aesthetics. Film executives know this, so when they're not using the heads of Philippine children as a soccer ball they're green lighting any crap that comes across their desk to exploit the hormonally challenged. Such has never been more apparent than the pop culture phenomenon, Twilight.

Set in rural Washington, the story is about a girl named Bella, who goes to high school and generally acts aloof and distance with people who want to be her friend for reasons we can't comprehend. She is intrigued with Edward, the mysterious boy who stares at her in a creepy fashion. After some supernatural events occur, Bella can only come to the logical conclusion that Edward is a 100 year old vampire who lusts after her blood, but is too taken with her to do any sucking. Bella spends the rest of the film biting her lip and being swoon by a man four times her age, all the while ignoring her less than fantastic friends.

I really don't get the appeal of the film as I'm obviously not the target audience, but beyond the creepiness of an old guy wanting a young girl I'm hard pressed to find anything aesthetically appealing. The acting really bad and the script won't allot the players to do much with the roles they've been given. Bella is far from interesting or like able, but mildly attractive so I guess that's all females should look to in a heroine. Edward speaks in Hallmark cliches that would be laughable anywhere else, but in this film the lines somehow strike a chord with tweens.

Kids have an excuse to like this wildly popular film, but adults don't. Parents don't seem to care that their kids like garbage, which is paramount to child abuse. Films like Twlight bother me in the lessons they give young girls, like it's great to like the dangerous guy who swoons all over you, age be damned. Go ahead and ignore your friends or academic life, because being in love is the most important thing in the whole wide world.

“Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.” - Stephen King

Dave Ramsey is not a moron, but he plays one on the internet.

Sometimes you read something by an intelligent individual and wonder how they can come to such idiotic conclusions. Such is the case with Dave Ramsey, noted financial guru and master of self promotion. Dave Ramsey tries to pick apart the Occupy Wall Street movement in a manner so moronic you think no one had proofread it before he decided to share such lunacy with the public. Here are a few examples of this ridiculous essay:

"The only problem is that I have no idea what their (OWS) demands and goals are. And neither does anyone else." So let me get this straight, you claim to not know what OWS stands for, but then you continue this dribble by picking apart a lot of what they stand for. Huh.

“No Government Bailouts!”
Banks and big companies should not receive taxpayer money for a bailout while their CEOs are making hundreds of millions of dollars. If that’s your gripe, then you’re protesting in the wrong location. Pack up and head to Washington, D.C., to deliver your message to the current administration. Why not protest at the source of the problem, such as the corporations who lobby for such ridiculous legislation? So all blame should lay at the feet of Obama, oh. Don’t get me wrong—I totally support a company’s freedom to pay their leaders well. I just don’t believe that I, as a taxpayer, should subsidize those huge salaries in the form of taxpayer bailouts. I pay my own team members; I don’t need to pay everyone else’s too.

By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the Tea Party agrees with you on this one—and so do I. No one is shocked to learn this...no one. I know it must make you feel better to educate us on things we already know, so take your bath filled with Reeses Peanut Butter cups after you're done riding your high horse.

“Down With Corporate Greed!”
Gordon Gekko was wrong. Greed is not good. Greed is bad—very bad. It’s a spiritual disease, and it is a disease that sadly affects a lot of companies across the country. If you believe a specific company is acting purely out of greed, then don’t just get mad—do something. They are doing something, bringing attention to the issue, or as you put it, spiritual disease. It may be too hippie-ish for your sensibilities, but they're taking action, such as unions did over a hundred years ago. Since you mention this, why not use the same point against your beloved Tea Party?

“Wall Street Is Evil!”
If you have this painted on a sign, well, now you just look ignorant. Wall Street is a street that people drive on. The New York Stock Exchange is a building where people exchange stocks in New York. This is the flea market of the financial world. Don’t turn Wall Street into some terrible monster attacking American citizens. It’s just a road with some buildings on it. You know exactly what they mean you condescending ass clown. Unless you read a sign denouncing Wall Street and suddenly were confused that the street itself was in need of construction, then that says more about you than the protesters. When someone says Washington D.C. is corrupt do you think they're talking about the foundation issues of the buildings? They don't look ignorant as they expect the American public to use common sense when it comes to common terminology, especially one used for over one hundred years, unlike your moronic writing.

Ramsey goes on to denounce wealth distribution and asks protesters to get work and love this land of opportunity. I'm not sure why he cares enough to write such dribble that basically says "when life hands you lemons...." and denounce a grass roots movement that doesn't spend their time holding racist images of our President and misspelled signs about socialism and the like. He understand populism and it's effects on the economy. He knows the OWS movement can be taken far more seriously than the Glenn Beck led Tea Party. Instead Ramsey and his ilk would like to belittle it by grasping at straws. Sure he makes some good points about wealth distribution and I do recommend reading it, but the thesis is weak. Yes of course I came across this nonsense because some of my Facebook friends decided to share such lunacy, because protesters who don't march against abortion scare them, and they tried, in vane, to seem smarter than they really are.

"But if you take all of that energy and excitement and pour it into something new and creative, you’ll get the chance to serve a whole lot of people really well, and over a decade or two, you’ll get to become the very thing you’re now protesting: rich people who actually earned their money." - Dave Ramsey

Wiwille plays with the young.

Last night I decided to play Call of Duty: Black Ops, a game I haven't played in months, while killing time before "Sons Of Anarchy" aired. I got an invite to play along with my friend Mattbear, so I naturally accepted.

I was playing along, but couldn't hear anyone through my headset. I saw Mattbear in my sights and he wouldn't shoot me for some reason. I ran up and knifed him. I saw him shortly thereafter and did the same. Wow, Mattbear is really sucking it up I thought. This went on for quite some time till the game finally ended.

Finally my headset worked and I said hi to him, only to find a child's voice on the other end. Ye gods I was beating the crap out of his son. The ass kicking was so ruthless it showed Mattbear as my nemesis. I killed him a total of twelve times, as opposed to him killing me for four.

My mic kept cutting in and out, but another game commenced and I decided to play. Mattbear's son was on my team and he kept talking about the game, along with his other friends who were in the party, who were the same age as he is it seems. Listed below are some the highlights of their conversation:

Him: Kill him. Kill him till he dies!
Him: He's got the death machine. He knows what he's doing, not like us ten year olds.
Him: He keeps killing that one guy. I think that guy is going to tell his dad on him.
Him: My dad can beat wy-willy.
Him: I think that guy said the 'f' word. I'm going to kill him again.
Him: You're just stupid. Don't point that at me or I'm going to stab you until you bleed.

I felt bad as I was schooling these kids, so after the match I decided to leave. I put in Kinect sports to do some boxing. I played the mini-game where you're required to knock out as many opponents in a specific time. I saw Mattbear's score of 10 on the screen, beating my personal best of 9. This couldn't stand, so I played and made sure I scored 11 opponents, just because I'm competitive like that. I didn't cheat doing the Popeye punches either. It's the little things I guess. Now that I think about it, it was probably his son who got that score. I need to apologize to him.

"I just moved into the world of Xbox Live. And I've discovered that everyone on the Internet is a lot better than me. I spent half an hour the other day designing a boxer, and I got knocked out twice in the first round." - Daniel Radcliffe

Wiwille gives advice no one wanted nor needed.

Tonight I'll do something I haven't done on this blog. I'll answer a question featured in an advice column. Of course, said questioner will never see the answer I give, but I thought it would be fun giving unsolicited advice. Let's start with this dating gem from Dear Mrs. Web.

Q: Dear Mrs. Web,

I am 18 and a student. I recently slept with a guy at work and he has not paid attention to me since. I have totally fallen for him.

We have known each other since primary school and he always was shy. Why won't he speak to me, let alone date me?

A: Dear slutty student,

You've fallen for a guy who stops talking to you after sex? First off, what exactly did you expect? I never understood why women believe that after sleeping with a guy they're automatically owed a relationship, never mind simple attention. I'm going to break it to all women out there, a guy wants sex and if you give it up easily they're likely to claim mission accomplished and move on to the next girl who'll get naked with them. Your vagina isn't special and doesn't work like the Death Star tractor beam in reeling in boyfriends. Your co-worker got what he wanted and has moved on, or he's embarrassed about something. Maybe it's his performance. But that doesn't matter. The fact that you have fallen for him is the most troubling aspect of this, when he obviously hasn't even given you a relationship. You really need to set your sights higher and have some self worth to nab a man willing to give you what you would like, like companionship and maybe even a commitment. Your only 18, so I'll cut you some slack, but few men will give you any more than what it takes to get your pants off. In this case it sounds like your pants came off pretty easily for your co-worker. I hope you at least got an orgasm from this, because that's about all you'll be receiving from boys who can see you naked at the drop of a hat.

"Being somebody's tissue is not a good foundation to develop a relationship with any depth...like a second date." - Mrs Web

Wiwille's movie reviews part 82

Sci-fi can be a tough sell to audiences and Solaris is a perfect example of why. When you see movies such as Norbit and a Fast and Furious sequel top the box office you'll see little demand for slow moving story set in outer space.

Solaris is the story of Chris, a psychiatrist hired to investigate a recent suicide on a space mission around the planet of the same name. He arrives to find a two person crew who are somewhat desperate to get off the ship after strange disappearances of the rest. After a night's rest he dreams of his deceased wife, who suddenly materializes next to him. After the shocking rendezvous he confides in the crew about her, who relate as they've seen a lot of their loved ones as well, all due to the energy they're trying to harvest from the planet.

Solaris is slowly paced, but the photography is brilliant. Sometimes romantic, and often haunting, Solaris is a prodding story about humanity, love, and the possibilities of the hereafter. Some may find it pretentious, and may be bored as the story isn't original at all. I've never seen the source material, nor have any desire, but this is a remake I enjoyed; however audiences and critics weren't as kind to it as I am. Maybe after a few decades people will see it as the masterpiece it truly is.

Thanks to Tad for submitting this. Wanna see a film reviewed by Wiwille? Drop me an email or comment and you'll see it soon on One Bad Apple. Rules are posted here.

"Many will justifiably find [it] a heady experience akin to 90 minutes of watching paint dry. Others will see that paint forming something close to a masterpiece." - Andrew Wright

Wiwille's movie reviews part 81

It's hard to imagine with how plugged in our society is that a big budget modern movie would fly beneath my radar. Such is the case with "Sunshine", which I never heard of, or forgot existed, until Tad demanded reviews of every film on this list.

I turned on the film yesterday not knowing what to expect. "Sunshine" tells the story of eight astronauts on a mission to save the dying sun, and ultimatley give humanity a chance to survive. The crew come across a ship that was long thought destroyed, but had the same mission. In their attempt to reconnect with the other crew everything goes wrong and the mission is jeopardized.

The film works as intellignet sci-fi for the first two acts. The dialogue feels genuine and the visuals are a treat. The third act descends into a cheap horror thriller and how the screenwriters thought they could blend the two is a mystery. The suspense for most of the film works though as the characters are shocking real and never take me out of the story. Danny Boyle creates a few gems in his career and this particular one is largely overlooked. At times it's a thinking person's sci-fi film, which I loved, and at others it's an action piece that drags the story. Stillm the visuals are compelling and it really puts the viewer into the world of space travel, and for that I would recommend it. If the film just centered it's third act around the natural elements being the real antagonist, I would've like it better.

Thanks to Tad for submitting this. Wanna see a film reviewed by Wiwille? Drop me an email or comment and you'll see it soon on One Bad Apple. Rules are posted here.

"So, anyway, younger girls won't like this movie, unless they know what happens under an automobile hood. Younger boys won't like it because the only thing that's possibly going to blow up real good is the sun. But science-fiction fans will like it, and also brainiacs, and those who sometimes look at the sky and think, man, there's a lot going on up there, and we can't even define precisely what a soliton is." - Roger Ebert

Overrated books part 4

It's been a long time since I've written about books, but last night for reasons I can't really explain I watched the new Christian film called "WWJD?" It was not a good movie (shocking I know) but it hearkened me back to the time I decided to sit down and read "In His Steps, WWJD." This was many years ago, but the memories still linger.

Christian entertainment is frustrating to consume as the producers put message above art, making it a chore to sit through. Maybe that's due to budget constraints or sheer lack of talent, but if biblical epics prove one thing is that art can come first and make a compelling story. Movies like "Ben-Hur" and the "Passion of the Christ" are a good example.

Much like the Bible, many Christians claim to follow the tenants of "WWJD?", but have never read the thing. "In His Steps" is the tale of a small community church and it's pastor, who's sermon writing is interrupted by a man looking for work. He's brushed off by the man of the cloth and the community as a whole. The man returns during a church service and interrupts the sermon to proclaim how he's been an object that's been ignored by the town and asks them what Jesus would do, before he collapses.

The pastor has a revelation and asks his congregation to ask the same question in their daily lives. The stories of the few main characters parallel social ills at the time, which is no surprise considering it was written during the Temperance movement. The book then gives the reader the them that if you do as Jesus did, you would experience prosperity in the worldly life, which is something I don't get.

The book is not exactly known for it's literary prowess. The author didn't care about overuse of phrases, and some of the scenes are so ridiculous it's laughable. But "In His Steps" is rarely read for it's aesthetics as it's a teaching tool that was really embraced by the evangelical community in the 90s. It's heavy handed preaching of Christian socialism can be seen as contrary to the gospels oddly enough, but for those seeking the meek and mild teachings of Jesus rather than the violent beater of money lenders and supporter of gathering arms, this is the book for them. What really surprised me about the book is that the pastor character really promoted the idea of thinking as Jesus, but never really told his congregation what exactly Jesus did. The evangelicals would like you to think as Christ as the prince of peace and not the one that blessed those who suffer, for embracing wordly pain doesn't fill pews. I guess that's why this book is such a hit.

"This brings me to the issues that have given me pause and not just a little concern. First, a few minor points. The writing style is very poor. Superlatives abound in the descriptions of the effects of various decisions. "For the first time ever..." or "he had never..." or "Nothing had ever..." or "Such a thing had never..." - these overused phrases become old and trite in their use. Additionally, the plot becomes rather predictable. However, that being said, this book is perhaps rarely read for its fictional and linguistic prowess." - Stephen Escalera

Wiwille learns about birth

On Saturday the misses and I went to our childbirth class. We were the first ones there and got our choice of sitting on the comfy couch. The instructor greeted us and gave us a stack of reading materials to go over. Other couples filed in, who were further along then we are, and the class began.

The instructor introduced herself and the women in the class did as well. The men were mostly quiet, not knowing what to expect. The instructor was a grandmother who worked as a nurse practitioner for the OBGYN's office and started things off with showing us a video of a live birth.

I did not jump up and scream "OH MY GOD KILL IT WITH FIRE", as I warned the wife I may do, but I held it together. We watched some more videos about breastfeeding and no one laughed like Bevis, but it was interesting none the less.

And let me tell you, there's nothing less sexy than hearing a senior citizen announce they're currently doing Kegel exercises. Nothing.

So we're taking a tour of the maternity ward with the other couples and one of them had hair like Betty Boop and it smelled weird. She was a friendly gal, but her partner said little to nothing. A few questions were asked and I learned a few things, mainly never have any expectations during childbirth as anything can happen. I was daydreaming that my daughter would fly out of the womb and we were in the presence of Supergirl, but I kept that to myself. I don't think I have any Kryptonian blood in my family.

See my generation is the first of men that are expected to go through the entire experience of childbirth, where as our fathers just paced a hole in the floor smoking an entire pack of non-filtered Lucky Strikes. I'm actually glad I'll get to be there for the whole thing.

"On the one hand, we'll never experience childbirth. On the other hand, we can open all our own jars." - Bruce Willis

Wiwille's movie reviews part 80

Foreign films are a hard sell to most American audiences. Subtitles are not embraced in this country nor are themes that make people actually think. Generally America has a monopoly on Michael Bay crap and thankfully movie goers can opt out of seeing such mindless drek. While I'd love to think that America produces the best and the brightest in film, that is not the case as audiences won't allot.

Timecrimes is a film hailing from Spain. It's starts simply with a man and his wife arriving at a home they're remodeling. He sees a woman in the distance taking off her shirt and unsurprisingly goes to investigate. When he finds her he's attacked by a man whose head is wrapped in bandages and he flees to a scientists home, who hides him in a water tank. When the man goes out of the home he realizes he's just time traveled a few hours and in doing so investigates the events some more.

I can't give much more away as to do so would spoil the whole thing. Timecrimes is a thoughtful piece of sci-fi time travel genre as it follows the idea of man being beholden to their destiny. Logical implications of jumping the time line aside, this is an enjoyable film. The acting is very good, but the copy I had was dubbed, but it wasn't terrible voice overs. Hopefully I lost nothing of the dialogue. It's one people will want to watch a second and maybe third time to fully grasp the events of the non-linear story. The conclusion is up to the viewer and that in and of itself makes it a topic of conversation amongst film buffs.

Thanks to Tad for submitting this. Wanna see a film reviewed by Wiwille? Drop me an email or comment and you'll see it soon on One Bad Apple. Rules are posted here.



"That rarest of rare things: an intelligent time-travel movie that actually holds together on closer examination." - Ken Hanke

I need beer

As a married man you are entitled to see places you've never thought existed. One of these places I ventured to last night was Bath and Body Works, the most emasculating place known to mankind.

Someone in the cosmetics industry decided to make women believe that humans smell like rotting corpses, so they must use products that in testing were applied directly to the eyes of kittens in order to smell nice. This has worked for many decades and considering the amount of products this store had it doesn't that's going to change soon.

The wife was doing some early Christmas shopping for the ladies in her life and asked me about each product, holding it under my nose and making sure I consumed enough scent, and if the recepient would like it. I felt as useless as Bill O'Reilly at a NOW convention. I assumed they would like the lotions as they smelled nice, but I'm clueless as to what women want when it comes to cosmetics, let alone a specific one. I shrugged often and nodded in approval, but I was of little assistance to her.

The clerk looked like she was in high school and had a cheery diposition. I'm sure it's hard for a girl to be grumpy in a place so fragrant. Maybe the lotions and such are filled with anti-depressants?

"I love to put on lotion. Sometimes I'll watch TV and go into a lotion trance for an hour. I try to find brands that don't taste bad in case anyone wants to taste me." - Angelina Jolie

The Tea Party can suck it

I've never understood the mentality of the Tea Party movement, or their like minded brethren, but the numbers for the Republican front runners astonish me. Mitt Romney has performed above and beyond in all the debates, and yet his numbers are still sucking.

Why the Republicans think Perry, who makes Bush look like Henry Kissinger, could possibly partake in a battle of wits with the President is anyone's guess. His campaign has been doomed since he threw his hat in the ring. Bachmann is a joke, and it's becoming less funny every time she opens her mouth. I can't understand how anyone would take her seriously at this point. Cain is amusing at times, and seems like an outsider, but he's not one to be leader of the free world. Running a business doesn't necessarily mean he can run the armed forces. Santorum has no business running at all.

The main problem with Romney is that I wonder if Evangelicals would embrace a candidate who wears magic underwear. Also he's dull. Obama is nothing, but an exciting campaigner. Romney doesn't have the social conservative badge that'll make the Tea Party happy as Obama-care is similar to Romney-care, and Tea Partiers aren't known for the intellectual prowess anyways. They fear intelligence, which Romney has, especially when you consider the low curve the other Republican candidates have made.

I shudder to think if Romney does get the nomination who'll he'll pick as a running mate. If it's any of the morons now running it's Obama's election to lose, which I'm OK with.

"Yeah...god forbid you went to an ivy league school...funny how that is viewed as a negative now.." - Corey

Things I hate that I probably shouldn't

We all have things we've grown a distaste for and sometimes for reasons we really can't explain. We've all seen that person that rubs us the wrong way, even though they may be the moral equivalent of the Dahli Lama. We've all hated certain trends as we claim they're frivolous or just stupid. Here below are a few things that I hate for no good reason:

1. Yoga: I hear it's a great workout, but I don't care. Exercise should be about running or doing something athletic. Simply stretching doesn't cut it.

2. Furries: I don't care why they do what they do, they must be stopped.

3. Hipsters: My god they really bother me with their illusion of coolness.

4. Homeopathy: Now those who believe in it are harmless, mostly. I hate the folks who recommend and sell this nonsense to others, especially to those who are really suffering and need actual medicine, not water posing as such.

5. New age: It's all a bunch of hippie crap.

6. The Geico commercial with the smartphones: I could just change the channel when this annoying ad comes on, but instead I complain.

7. Light beer: It shouldn't be called beer.

8. Pretentious people who do anything alternative to proclaim their independence: You know the type, the vegetarian anti-Big Pharma homeopathic practitioner who birthed their children at home in a wading pool and claims their religion as spiritualism, and feels the need to remind you how great they are because they've chosen against the establishment.

9. Reality show "stars": I believe there's a special place in hell for such narcissism.

10. Bloggers who complain about worthless stuff: They should go to...wait...what?

"Yoga's an amazing release." - Monica Keena

Wiwille's movie reviews part 79

Old sci-fi films are a mixed bag for me. While there are some that are really thought provoking and well done (The Day the Earth Stood Still) there are countless others that deserve the ribbing they get from the MST3K cast. It's difficult to find a gem in the genre of sci-fi films from the 50s and 60s, but there are a few that are worth a look.

"The Thing from Another World" is one of those gems. While it's often overlooked now due the superior John Carpenter remake "The Thing", it's a film that's enjoyable. The film takes place at the North Pole, where a team of Air Force supply personnel investigate a reported UFO crash. They find the wreckage, but to their surprise it has a survivor who's hell bent on destroying all of them. The crew locks themselves up in a station and attempts to keep the alien from entering and killing them all.

While the film really doesn't have a deep antagonist, it has great mood. The alien is a cross between Frankenstein's monster and Jaws from the 007 films and at times is genuinely scary. The editing is better than I expected. Sure it has it's corny moments and the dialogue is not high caliber, but the film does hold up well, mostly due to it's atmosphere. Plus fans of the remake can see the elements Carpenter borrowed to make "The Thing" such a success. Howard Hawkes was a very talented director and it shows in this piece.

Thanks to Tad for submitting this. Wanna see a film reviewed by Wiwille? Drop me an email or comment and you'll see it soon on One Bad Apple. Rules are posted here.

"All-time classic sci-fi still packs creepy wallop." - Steve Crum

Pedicures

Last night the wife insisted I get a pedicure. Apparently my calloused feet were leaving dead skin all about the place and it was time to remedy this. I soaked my feet and she took out some weird looking razor of death and a pedi-egg and went to work on my feet.

Now I've been against the idea of pedicures for many moons. Now I'm not against doing things that are girly, but this is where I drew the line. I just don't like it, for reasons I can't really explain well.

I gave the wife a break and shaved a bunch of dead skin off my feet. The whole idea was bothering me. I could walk hot coals before, but now I probably can't even go barefoot in the woods. The bottom of my feet were tough and manly, now they're smooth, well somewhat. It took a lot of elbow grease to get that stuff off as I've never done it before. I may have to seek the services of a professional, god help me.

"Ah, the patter of little feet around the house. There's nothing like having a midget for a butler." - W. C. Fields

Facebook vs Blogger users

Well it seems everyone's on FB now and the contrast between it and Blogger are vast. It's of little surprise as both are very different in their intent. Let's take a look at the differences between the two shall we?

Blogger user: Updates their followers with details about their professional and personal life.
Facebook user: Passive/aggressively calls out their ex for being a no good cheater and hopes all their friends will comment on their page with niceties to boost their flailing ego.

Blogger user: Illustrates in detail their personal hobby or family life to chronicle their existence.
Facebook user: Keeps posting attention whoring pics that may or may not be flattering, or safe for viewing.

Blogger user: Attempts to detail their feelings on our current national body politic.
Facebook user: Writes a short, and what they think is amusing commentary on something the Huffington Post or Daily Show has already done, much better I may add.

Blogger user: Tries to keep the writing pure and welcomes feedback in the comments section.
Facebook user: Takes any comment that doesn't fit with their world view personally and defends their pretentious postings with overwhelming zeal.

Blogger user: Posts about their weekend adventures and sometimes include pictures.
Facebook user: Has to announce to everyone that the weekend they had was the best weekend ever, which is not true, and posts pics of people drinking, because no one else was consuming alcohol with their friends.

Blogger user: May attempt to incorporate songs into their post.
Facebook user: Someone who knows nothing of real pain, posts horrific ballad that is supposed to illustrate how they're feeling, but accomplishes nothing but making others ears bleed.

Blogger user: Expresses their feelings about a current event.
Facebook user: Will post multiple times about an event that doesn't matter, read Casey Anthony.

Blogger user: Sometimes reviews websites and tech products.
Facebook user: Makes fun of Myspace for doing exactly the same thing Facebook does.

Blogger user: Tries to be grammatically correct, despite their best efforts.
Facebook user: Cannot help but use text speak in their illiterate posts.

Blogger user: Will reference a historical figure's thoughts on a subject.
Facebook user: Will quote Buddha or some philosophical crap endlessly in an attempt to teach someone what they think is a valuable lesson, but it's something their FB friends already know.

Blogger user: May attempt to monetize their blogs.

Facebook user: Has maxed out their credit cards in getting equipment for Farmville.

Yeah I know, pot to kettle, etc...

"Look, I don't have a Facebook page because I have little interest in hearing myself talk about myself any further than I already do in interviews or putting any more about myself online than there already is. But if I wasn't in this position, I'm sure I would use it every day." - Jesse Eisenberg

Rest in peace Grandma Alice

My Grandmother passed away on Saturday. She went peacefully thankfully and she didn't go alone.

My grandmother was a woman unlike many. She was fiercely independent and opinionated. She didn't knit or do things that were stereotypically grandmotherly. She traveled the country at the drop of a hat, putting many miles on her car and scaring her passengers and fellow commuters into religion. She used to get mad at me as whenever I rode shotgun with her I would refer to it as the 'death seat'.

Driving was not her gift, but she would argue otherwise. In fact she would debate any point given to her. She believed in a black and white world, one where Republicans were the ethical equivalent of Jesus and all Democrats secretly idolized Pol Pot. She loved the party so much she believed any rumor or conspiracy the left would rail against the right. She once told me that Richard Nixon was once forced into being given a frontal lobotomy when he visited China. My response was "how could anyone tell?" She wasn't amused.

I remember her buying me GI Joe figures and spoiling my sister and I to a great degree. In my youth she was fun and always made sure we had a good time. As I got older she decided I needed to think like her, religiously and politically. She was constantly frustrated with me not worshipping at the altar of the GOP, but she taught me to question the establishment and I took that farther than she would've wanted.

She could be difficult to get along with, but she loved us all and for that I'm very grateful. On this day I hope she's now resting in the peace she so longed for when she was alive.

"A people free to choose will always choose peace." - Ronald Reagan