Rape

In a liberal college such as the one I attend, people often find a cause to get behind, something they can really be a part of and make the world a better place. Many of these are fantastic in theory, but in practice, they just seem like kind a waste of time.

For example, Feminism is a completely worthwhile pursuit and I believe that men and women deserve equal treatment. Anyway, last night, I walked into the auditorium where some sort of feminist meeting had taken place the night before. Their discussion topics were still on the whiteboard. One of the questions was (something like), What can we do to improve the sense of community for local women? A perfectly fair question: so, what was the answer written down on the whiteboard? The answer is to "create a stronger presence for the anti-rape culture on campus".

The idea of an anti-rape culture is one that is completely new to me, it also seems really, really dumb. I don't know who anti-rape publicity is gonna stop, I just can't imagine that a rapist is going to be persuaded by an anti-rape march. Also, it just seems bizarre that an entire culture has come just based around the premise of being anti-rape, you guy's should join my culture, it's the pro-earth culture.

Electric Toothbrush

Since the first time the dentist stuck my gums with one of those Novocain needles, I’ve become an enthusiastic about my dental hygiene. I’ve got an electric toothbrush, which, through its vibrating, makes my teeth cleaner than any old-fashioned hand operated one ever could, or at least, presents that illusion, because it's "electric". I keep the toothbrush in my room, because, due to my suitemates, the bathroom I use smells like pot. Like most electric things, when you plug it in, the toothbrush has a flashing light that tells you “I am charging!” Lately, I’ve had a problem with the toothbrush; at night, my room is dark except for its flashing charging light. I recklessly throw some pillow over it, but then I worry that my pillow will get wet or toothpasty or something. It seems like one of those things that makes me sound like an idiot, but is true nonetheless: my toothbrush is keeping me awake.

Zaniness

I enjoy zanyiness. It's a word that I like to use whenever I can find the opportunity and I definitely prefer it over what I thought was its synonym: wacky. I knew that wacky and zany were sort of the same, but I wondered what the difference is, even if slight.
The first thing I learned was that zany's first use is as a noun: "one who acts the buffoon to amuse others" wheras the adjective form is just a descriptor for somebody who acts like a zany.





This was the first picture I got when I image-searched zany, he's DJ zany, even if he doesn't look it



Wacky simply describes an eccentric or silly person. So, I guess the way I see it is a zany person might make more of a conscious effort to be funny and weird, wheras for a wacky person it just comes out naturally.



This wacky picture is far wackier than the zany picture is zany, especially that "stock photo" part, because I'm relatively sure that it's not a photograph, at least, I sincerely hope not.




I guess the main lesson to take from this post is that it would be grammatically correct to refer to somebody as a wacky zany. Are you now chock full of knowledge?

Fight Club

Fight club is too long. It’s nearly long enough to be two movies. In fact, it basically is two movies within a film, though I don't think that was intentional. The first movie is a fantastic and gritty exploration of the way people try and cope with an often constricting and dehumanizing society. The second movie is a silly an underdeveloped attempt at a psychological thriller which goes a long way towards ruining the whole film.

Let’s talk about movie #1, which basically comprises the first 3/4ths of Fight Club. It’s really good, I recommend it. The characters aren’t particularly good people, but they’re all understandable and fairly likable, and they’re all acted exceedingly well. The movie is kind of dark and heavy, but each aspect of the storytelling and filmmaking is done so well and naturally that it draws you right in. Like I said, it’s good.

Then there is movie #2, which makes up the last quarter of Fight Club. In an attempt to have a zany twist, the movie shoots itself in kneecap and cuts away most of what made the first two hours so interesting and just kind of crawls towards its nonsensical conclusion. It says to me that the writers didn’t really know how to end the story, so they put in some zany plot that makes no sense in hopes to disguise it as “art”.

Really though, I’d still recommend Fight Club. Movies this engaging don’t come out too often. It’s just unfortunate that that second movie is in there. Ah well.

Rhetorical Questions

So,
Here's a piece of something to ponder. Why is this blog here? What am I trying to achieve by having it here? Let's just start with what I know, I want this to mainly be a place for reviews, because I enjoy telling people what I think about various things. However, I also understand that with no particular regularity to when, what or why or even how I choose to review things that it's a pretty worthless resource in terms of getting an opinion on something that you might actually care about beforehand. As such, I understand that the appeal of this blog basically needs to come from me, since I am the only unique thing that my blog has to offer.
So I want to ask you, my giant fan base of two, what would you like to see here that would make this blog interesting to you. Throw out any idea you like, because, well, I need to feel like I have some sort of reason to write stuff here.

The Common Cold

The common cold is easily the most popular and widespread of all diseases, but despite it’s ability to seemingly reach people from all countries and all walks of life, I think you’d be hard pressed (ouchie) to find someone who is really much of a fan of the common cold. The phlegm, fatigue and headaches that go along with it are often listed as its least appealing attributes, and for the most part, I agree. However, for me, it is the effects that the common cold has on sleeping that are worst of all. Inability to get to the right temperature, as soon as you start getting hot, you get too hot, and when you start getting cold, you get real cold, never able to get to that complete sense of sleep, weird prophetic visions ensue, leaving you confused, hopeless and thirsty and then you go get some water and then you gotta go pee. Most people will tell you that getting sleep is the best way to get rid of a cold, but when you have a cold, sleep isn’t easy to get, sleep has a cruel sense of irony.

Despite its many weaknesses, there is still something to be said for the common cold. Mainly, it makes you really appreciate being healthy. Our body is like a super complex machine (except, not really a machine) so it’s a wonder it manages to do what it does as well as it can. The ability to breathe freely and feel strong is a profound feeling of joy after being “under the weather” for a day or two. So basically, I don’t mind getting sick every once in a while (twice a year maybe). It gives me a feeling of accomplishment just for making it through the day. The common cold certainly does not come highly recommended, but, at least in terms of disease, you could certainly do worse. 4/10

NARC

Released:1988
Platform: Arcade (available on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for Xbox, PS2 and GC)
Genre: Anti-Drug Shoot em up
Winners don't use drugs

You are the NARC. The task has fallen upon you to help clean up the drug infested streets of your fair city and end the reign of the K.R.A.K Corporation… I wonder what they could possibly manufacture at the K.R.A.K Company. Anyway, as the NARC, you can get up close to and bust the countless offenders, sending them off to rehabilitation and helping them get their lives back on track and become contributing members of society. Or you can blow them into tiny bits with your rocket launcher. Whichever tactic you choose, you can take solace in the fact that you are making your city a safer place for all the children who simply want to take a walk down the street. So long as they avoid the flaming limbs falling from the sky.

Even though it’s not particularly good, NARC is worth checking out once just to see some of the old school zaniness. About the time I was blasting missiles at a fat man in a wheel chair I couldn’t help but feel thankful to be playing a game with a positive message behind it.