Think of the Children

   How low can the human race go in our search for entertainment?  It's an open question.  Personally I've seen it sink pretty low, especially in the last few years.  Some landmarks of new lows:  Paris Hilton.  TMZ.  Jerry Springer.  Reality TV.  Lindsay Lohan.  SurReality TV (an example would be VH1's mockery of Reality TV).  American Idol.  OctoMom.  I could go on... and on... and on...
   And this past week, I believe I saw humanity sink once again.  We've always loved our child stars.  Shows like "Star Search" and even "American Idol" put children into the forefront of entertainment, and as the ratings showed, Americans loved it.  But what was the cost of this obsession with entertainment?  How many child stars have we seen turn into deragned, psychopathic, suicidal maniacs?  Is our hunger for the "next big thing" worth destroying people's lives?
   Apparently it is, because we've been doing it for years.  The fact that someone like Kim Kardashian can't walk out of a restaurant at lunch time on a Thursday without being COMPLETELY MOBBED by paparazzi, is one of the saddest things I think I've ever seen.  The fact that the only way an actor can remain famous is by getting high on meth and crashing his car into a bus full of children, makes me want to vomit.  We curse these people for acting so stupid, yet we encourage their stupidity by constantly flocking to entertainment shows and websites.  We tell them that's what we want to see, and then we get angry when they do it.  Is that right?  No.  Is it stupid?  Yes.  Does it need to stop?  Absolutely.
   So, I present to you two examples of this "sinking of humanity" in motion, and beg you to do your part in stopping it.
   #1: The Piano Kid: Here's a sixth grade boy who decided to play a Lady Gaga song at his school's talent show.  Lady Gaga should be added to that list up there.  Anyway, this kid played and sang and he was impressive.  My favorite part of the video is the expression on the girls' faces behind him, like he's totally blowing them away.  This is every kid's dream, and I'm sure this guy's popularity just went through the roof.  AT SCHOOL.  Unfortunately, this child is now considered a world phenom, picked up by every major news network and even featured on "Ellen."  He's got an agent.  He's got a record deal.  He's got problems.  This kid is talented, yes... but there are a million talented kids out there.  That's part of what's great about being a kid... you can do anything.  But to turn this kid into the next Justin Bieber is a mistake.  Justin Bieber is a mistake.  To call Bieber the next Elvis or the next Beatles is blasphemy.  And yet I sit here watching 13 and 14 year old girls CRY when the dude sings.  Why? why? why?
   #2: The Dancing Girls:  You may notice that this video has been pulled.  That's because (thankfully), people realized what a terrible, horrible mistake this was and complained enough that finally they yanked it.  If you haven't seen it or heard about it, it basically showed a bunch of very young girls (think like, 7 years old), dancing on stage to a Beyonce song, wearing nothing but lingerie.  Let me say that again.  Young children dancing in nothing but their underwear. 
   Let's set aside for a minute how stupid it was for this dance instructor to even think this was a remotely good idea.  Let's go instead after the person who posted this on YouTube.  That means someone approved of this activity enough to put it out on the web.  The World Wide Web, key here being World Wide, and other key being that it's full of sickos who spend the entire day scouring the web just for this kind of stuff to do God knows what to.  Great idea fool!
   Yet, before this video got pulled, it still made Network News.  True, it was because they were asking the question "is this ethical or right?" but just the fact that it's getting this much attention sickens me.  This type of stuff should not make the news, period.  It should stay in its local area, or be used in a court of law to try to get the dance instructor fired or fined or imprisoned or whatever.
   Okay I'm getting off topic.  My point here is that we, as a country, as human beings, need to take a step back from this new obsession we've developed.  In our quest to be entertained, we are ruining the lives of the people involved.  Sure, some of them deserve it (ahem, Paris), but some of them are innocent (think of the children of the Octomom... what kind of life are they going to have?).  Are our lives so boring that this is what we've resorted to?  Don't we have something better to do?  If not, then man... we're in trouble.

Real Slick
   You might not think it's anything important, especially if you don't live along the Gulf Coast... but that little "oil spill" you hear about every now and then is actually a huge frickin' deal.  As you read this, there are multiple EXPLOSIVE leaks literally blasting oil out into the ocean.  I've heard all kinds of numbers... 5,000 barrels a day, the Exxon-Valdeez every four days, I've also heard that it's all a lie and it's much worse than BP or the media are letting on... regardless, this is an enormous problem that will haunt us for decades, and it just isn't getting the attention it deserves.
   When the leak first erupted I thought it was BP's problem.  They're a big company, they brought on this problem, it was their responsibility to handle it.  The government had no place in the equation... it wasn't their responsibility to use our tax dollars to clean up a mess made by a big corporation.  HOWEVER, I have since changed my mind.  This problem is way too big to leave in the hands of any private company.  This is going to take the resources of an entire country to clean up... and once the job is done, just send the bill to BP.  Sure it might bankrupt the company but hey, that's the game you play.
   And yet, where is the government?  Where is our president?  I think I heard yesterday that he's calling for an investigation into what caused this leak.  He's calling for investigations while millions and millions of gallons of oil are gushing into the gulf.  Either way you look at it, billions of dollars and years of precious oil are escaping, while the environment is getting absolutely raped... and he wants an investigation?  What in the world is going on here?
   I heard some conservative nutjob (Limbaugh I think) say that this is "Obama's Katrina," and then I saw that a bunch of Liberal nutjobs were pissed off about that comparison.  Well, you should be pissed because believe it or not, Rush is right.  Look at the grilling Bush got for Katrina, and why?  Because it took him two days to get down there?  Can you imagine if Bush hadn't even done that, if instead he was calling for investigations while people were still trying to find where their houses had floated off to?  It would be media mayhem!  Or can you imagine if Bush were president now, during this whole gulf spill?  It would be on 24/7, people complaining about how our President only cares about Big Oil and doesn't give a damn about the people of this country, the environment, or the wildlife being killed off as a result of this leak.
   So I ask you, isn't that what's going on right now?  Who is to say that Barack Obama can't be swayed by big oil?  This is a guy who just recently allowed for more offshore drilling... and while I'm in agreement with that, I don't agree with the way people act like he's impervious to payoffs and invincible in the face of corporate greed.  Someone told me yesterday that corporate greed is what caused this leak.  I disagree.  I think an honest accident (OR KOREAN TORPEDO!) caused the leak... but corporate greed is what's keeping it from being cleaned up as quickly as it should.  And I think if you set aside the fact that our president is a minority, that he's "historic," that he's "young and inspiring," you will find that he is a man who is lost, who got in over his head with this whole oil thing and now is scrambling to try to figure out what to do about it.  Hey, I voted for the guy... but I also calls 'em how I sees 'em.  Maybe Bush should be consulted here, since he apparently knows a thing or two about oil...
   "If you care about it so much why aren't you down there cleaning up animals and stuff?"  That's the question I'm sure some of you people are wanting to ask me.  Well, this has nothing to do with cleaning up animals.  My point is that this should have never reached the point where we have to clean anything up.  This oil should not have reached Louisiana's shores.  The National Guard should have been out there bombing the shit out of that well, or drilling a new one like crazy, or something other than just floating around or putting up a wimpy net to try to catch billions of gallons of destruction. 
   Like I said before, this mess is going to haunt us for decades.  The environmental and economical damage is going to be astronomical, and yet you watch: our president is going to come out of it squeaky clean.  A man who has failed to act in an event not unlike Katrina or 9/11 isn't getting any attention.  No one is.  Watch the news and see how much time is devoted to this oil spill.  I'll bet you see more about Travolta's new baby on the way, or China's Stock Market, than you will see about real news that has a direct impact on millions of lives, and is happening right now in our own backyard.

Thoughts on Reach
   I'm a pretty big "Halo" fan.  The original game is what made me buy an Xbox (I was pretty fiercely against them before that game came out), and coming this year is the final game to be made by Bungie in the series: "Halo Reach."  The game looks pretty awesome, and the icing on the cake is that they opened up a multiplayer beta for us all to check out and mess around in, in the hopes that it will give them more information for the final game.  Betas are a great idea, but I also think direct feedback is good.  Bungie posted a "Reach Survey" on their website, but it was only to talk about their web interface... so in disappointment, here are the things I would LIKE to tell Bungie about "Reach."  Have you played the Beta?  Do you agree?  Do you disagree?  Let me know.
   The Look and Feel:  "Reach" is gorgeous.  Even in this (what I expect is an) early phase, the game looks better than Halo 3 and plays smoother as well.  When I first loaded up the game I was a little worried, because it just didn't feel like a "Halo" game... but the more I played it, the happier I was with it.  The controls actually feel tighter than previous games, and the explosion effects are unmatched.  I also really like the sound-design... there's nothing quite like having a grenade blow up near you and hearing your ears ring while trying to fend of the blue team.  The atmosphere is much more immersive, which makes the game much more immersive, and better.
   The Weapons:  Bungie has done a great job of beefing up the feel of their weapons.  They look better and sound better and just generally feel more powerful.  Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case in practice.  Unlike previous Halo games, it takes a very long time to drop an opponent in this game.  Unless you hit every single shot, you're going to burn through an entire Assault Rifle Clip, and chances are you'll use up some pistol ammo too.  I know there are some nutjobs out there who will practice this and get really good at it, but there were multiple instances in this beta where my opponent and I both depleted all of our ammo on both weapons and were swinging at each other to try to finish each other off.  That is NOT Halo.  It feels like Bungie has gone out of their way to make it very difficult for anyone to take out more than one person before being taken out in this game.  Unless you pick up a power weapon (like the rocket launcher, shotgun, or sword), chances are you won't be seeing any double-kills or killing sprees.  Grenades are also surprisingly hard to come by (and way overpowered), which adds a new/ridiculous element to the once strategic gameplay.  Rather than conserve your ammo and take precise shots, these games often turned into trigger fests with people constantly firing at one another and praying that they can land a melee shot and get out of the way of the grenade thrown across the map by an opportunist.  Hell they even made an "opportunist" award for the chumps who sit back while you deplete your ammo, only to ruin your narrow victory by landing a grenade at your feet or a pistol shot in your head.  To summarize: make more weapons more powerful.  Make the DMR and the Needle Rifle worth picking up.  Don't let someone with an assault rifle take me out from long-distance before I can kill them with a weapon I had to search to find.
   The Vehicles: To be honest, I only drove one vehicle in this game: a warthog, and only for a minute.  It felt exactly like the Warthog in Halo 3.  I know there may be some tweaks still on the vechicles, and the Halo 3 vehicles drove plenty nice... but what I really want is a return to Halo 1's vehicles.  Give me the low gravity, the invincibility, and the fun.  Sure it wasn't as realistic that a rocket would send a warthog flipping through the air... but it was awesome!  There was nothing more enjoyable in the original Halo than having a warthog come directly at you, throwing a grenade in front of it sending it flying over your head, and shotgunning the poor bastard as he passed you by in the driver's seat.  Bring it back Bungie, at least as a variant in the gametypes... bring it back.
   Matchmaking:  Bungie has always been a gamechanger with their online content, and "Reach" looks to once again raise the bar.  Not much has changed other than the speed in which games are found, and the fact that you automatically cling to good party members after a game ends.  That's a great feature... but what I like the most is the addition of voting for gametypes.  In Halo 3, you were given a game type and the opportunity to veto it.  If enough people vetoed, then you got another gametype, for better or worse.  In Reach, you're given 3 choices and a "none of the above."  Chances are one of the choices will be good, but if you do none of the above you're given 3 MORE choices.  Brilliant.  I can't wait to see what else they add to Matchmaking in the final game.
   Expectations: I think Bungie has got a fantastic game in the works here, but they've got some work to do before it's going to become truly brilliant (at least by my standards).  The weapons need to be made as powerful as they sound.  The grenades need to be toned down and more available.  The vehicles need to be returned to their previous, perfect form.  And (most impossibly), the nerdy fat kids who yell all the time need to be punched in the face very, very hard.  Can't wait for the holidays...

Iron Man 2
   Tony Stark and friends return for another exciting adventure in their Metal Suits.  This time, some smart Russian dude who hates Tony decides to build his own knockoff super power supply and, by teaming up with Stark's competition, creates evil suits of armor.  But Iron Man has a few tricks up his sleeve, as does his friend Jim Rhodes.  Who wins?  You.
   I've said it before and I'll say it again: Iron Man is easily the coolest Super Hero ever conceived.  I know he started off as sort of a background guy, and whackjobs like Captain America got all the publicity... but ever since I was a kid, Iron Man has been my favorite.  I've got old comics, trading cards, action figures... you name it.  If it was Iron Man, I was all about it.  Oh, except for that stupid cartoon... nice try fellas.  Anyway, I loved the first Iron Man movie (enough to buy a blu-ray player just so I could see it).  My question going into this one was, can it live up to what was started?
   The answer is a definitive "yes."  John Favreau has really outdone himself in this sequel.  I was a little nervous about this guy handling the Iron Man franchise, but you can tell by the way he's treated the material that he is a true Iron Man fan.  He's made a wise choice by staying away from the comic side of things, including Iron Man's stupid nemesis The Mandarin (are you kidding me??).  He's kept the movie in the real world, and while that may be risky, the result has been more batman and less... well... batman.  The point is, this movie may be a little far-fetched, but it is completely believable.  Seriously, if you had enough money, you could potentially create a suit like this.  And that, my friends, is my goal.
   My favorite things about this movie: more time was spent in the suit.  There was a lot more action, a lot more gadgets, and a lot more stuff blowing up.  Don Cheadle actually did a good job as Rhodes (he may not LOOK the part like Terrence Howard did, but Howard should be kneed in the nuts for the crap he pulled so it's good to see Cheadle step up and make it work).  Mickey Rourke was awesome, as was Sam Rockwell.  They've done a nice job of integrating S.H.I.E.L.D. into the mix, as well as alluding to the Avengers.  The critics said Scarlett Johansen was a waste, but I didn't feel that way at all.  Plus she'll most likely show up again in future movies.
   Which brings me to my one disappointment in this entire movie: what happened after the credits.  I won't give it away, but I will say that it concerns me.  I understand what Marvel is trying to do, use a million different movies to tell the backstories of one big finale ("The Avengers," anyone?)... but some SuperHeroes should probably just be left out.  I worry that this whole idea is going to turn into something like the "X-Men" movies... fun to watch, but ultimately hokey and full of characters who feel like they were just cammed in for the sake of having them.
   Something else I've said before, and I will say again: don't listen to the critics.  They said this movie was too complicated, that there was too much going on.  They were wrong.  They said Johannsen shouldn't have been in the movie.  They were wrong.  They said they knew what they were talking about.  They (especially the assbags at Rotten Tomatos) are (always) WRONG.
   See this movie.  See it in theatres if you can.  See it on the biggest possible screen, and see it with friends.  Then buy it on DVD or blu-ray or 3d whatever you can.  Show the studios that you appreciate good cinema, and that you are willing to pay if they're willing to put in the work.  And to the makers/stars/etc of this movie: bravo, well done, and keep 'em comin.'

Adios.