Well, we’ve been having 24 mondays around the apartment, but now that 24 is over, we weren’t really sure what to do with our Mondays.
That is, until Jenn’s birthday present to me came out: Mario Party 8.
Mario Party Mondays are officially in for the summer! =)
Well, that was interesting. I just had the strangest dream…
I was some kind of secret agent, investigating this guy who lived in what seemed to be the Florida area (except there was snow in part of it). In order to find the guy, we planted tracking devices on two of his company’s vehicles. Long story short, they planted them on other things. The first was the classic “plant the tracker on another vehicle” trick, which worked, the other, for some reason, got planted on a mug in the hotel gift shop by Billy Boyd. I witnessed him do that, however, and yelled “HEY!”, and started to give chase.
Well, Billy Boyd ran for it, bu then stopped to throw something at me (and missed), then ran on. I chided him “Hey moron, if you’re going to throw stuff, why keep running?” and he proceeded to throw other items at me. This continued for a few minutes until he ran out of things to throw and ran onto the golf course. I lost him for a second, then spotted him bent over the pond. I ran over, and just as I approached, he turned around and yelled “STAY BACK!”
He was brandishing an otter. No joke.
I lost it, laughing hysterically. “Have you ever considered crime fighting? Because you’d be a great goofy sidekick. G’head, throw the otter, see if I care. I’ll just sic him on you for throwing him.” all the while he’s holding me at bay with the otter while trying to get back to his motorcycle.
Then I woke up. Wow, that was weird.
In recent weeks I’ve begun a bit of a philosophical journey. Well, maybe not philosophical, but a journey all the same. It’s kind of involving a way of critically analyzing things about myself and about the world. My conclusion? I’m hardly normal, but I can be a lot moreso than a lot of people in the world.
In taking a firearms safety & defense courses, I’ve kind of come to realize a some things about myself; One of those things is, despite no prior training, I already think like a cop in a lot of ways, more off of instinct than any training I’ve taken. When I enter a restaurant, for instance, I always pick the side of the table that gives me the best view of the entrances (unless I’m with Kennon, in which case we each cover a door). I’m constantly looking around, ensuring that if there is a threat, I’m aware of it. If I’m going to my car, I’ve got my keys ready to gouge the throat of an attacker (so don’t sneak up on me in a dark parking lot, okay?)
I’ve also come to realize that you can’t make laws for people who won’t follow them. With all the media speculation over the next Columbine or Virginia Tech, a lot of people are pushing for more gun “controls” in public places like schools and malls. The only problem being, the only people who will follow those are people who abide by laws. Of course, we could forget about the fact that Columbine high school was a gun-free zone. Virgina Tech had strict rules against having firearms on campus. Most local shopping malls have signs posted saying that they are weapons-free. Columbine and Virgina Tech both clearly demonstrated, if the person’s determined, they’re not going to care about the rules, and if they kill themselves after they cause a rampage, they aren’t going to face the consequences of breaking said rules. The only people who would be reprimanded would be people who didn’t deliberately break the rules (or possibly did but without malicious intent). The rules are meant to keep people safe, but are sadly inadequate because they assume that people who commit these kinds of atrocities give a flip about the rules. Let’s not forget that Cho had to go by a post office to mail his manifesto, and he might have been concealing his two handguns (which, ironically, is a federal offense). The school had a gun-free campus policy (which he was in violation of). And if Cho carried the weapons concealed on his person, he was in violation of Virginia State concealed carry laws. Was he around afterwards to suffer the consequences of breaking those rules? No. As soon as he realized the police were coming, he blew his brains out. So much for throwing him in jail and confiscating his weapons.
I’m not calling for the repeal of concealed weapons permitting processes, mind you, I think that those who would conceal a weapon should have to prove themselves competent before they’re allowed to carry in public places and be aware of the weight they’ll be taking on if they chose to do so(And Washington State’s laws could use some revision in this aspect), but I think that people assume, entirely too often, that another rule is all we need to take care of the problem of violence, and the fact remains, it isn’t.
Banks are another prime example, it is a federal offense to bring a weapon into a bank (FDIC insured = Federal facility, essentially). Does a bank robber stop at the sign, ponder a moment, and say, “Wow, it’s against the rules for me to have a firearm in here, maybe I should try someplace like a grocery store.”? No. In fact, I mused to myself that Wells Fargo putting “Please remove sunglasses before entering the branch” on their doors was about as useful as putting a “Please, no ski masks” sign out there.
What’s my point? I’m not saying more guns equals less violence, I’m saying less announcing to the world that it’s a gun-free environment and not reprimanding those who have earned a right to carry weapons equals less violence. The reasons school and malls are the targets is because the killers know that there’s a low probability they’ll come up against armed opposition. Not knowing who may put an end to the violence may, in some cases, act as a deterrent.
And this isn’t to say that fear will stop them in all cases. Ultimately, there will always be Chos and Klebolds, Harrises and Kinkels. But what if, for instance, the student who was disciplined at VT for carrying a concealed firearm with a state-issued permit had been in one of those classrooms, and hadn’t been reprimanded earlier for violating a campus rule? Would the carnage have ended sooner? God only knows.
Because of the media, we’re all living in constant fear of what happens next. You or I could be the nest shooting victim, our next door neighbor could be raising the next shooter. There’s no hope offered in the media, and while they can postulate about whether it was the guns or the video games or the troubled childhood that caused it, the fact is that none of those explain what causes a person to go on a psychotic rampage and kill 30 people. They make a conscious choice to do it. Just like those who have the ability to defend, the hidden assets in the crowd, have to make the conscious choice to act. God forbid the day ever come where I am the last line of defense between a psychopath and innocents, but if someone starts opening fire in a shopping mall and I’m present and armed, I will make that choice, and whatever I chose, unlike a psychotic killer who causes the terror and ends his own life, I will have to live with that choice.
In my rantings against Jack Thompson, there’s one thing I will adamantly say that video games will not prepare a human being for; Despite the realism of the characters, or the realism of the blood spurting from the characters wounds, no amount of games will ever prepare a human being for the smell of death. It’s just not something that can be trained for. It’s a smell that, I’m told, lingers with you long after the sirens are silent and the night is again quiet.
And why shouldn’t it? The taking of a human life, that shouldn’t be something we soon forget, lest we grow too accustomed to it. I think that’s what separates those with a conscience from those without them. Once that decision is made, someone with a conscience will have to wrestle with that for the rest of their life. A psychopath won’t feel any remorse or regret, despite what he might say at trial.
Wow, this turned out longer and a lot more focused than I expected. Where’s the random? Dagnabbit.
If Hilary Clinton is our next president, I’m moving to Canada. Seriously.
(I had to keep this random, after all. =)
Cheers,
A
I’ve owned a classical guitar since Junior High, and only just now, while playing with Brennan’s stratacaster, discovered that the verses to Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me” is a whopping three chords I’ve known for years… Figures it’d be too easy…
Well, it’s now been 6 seasons, and I’m still left wanting more. Granted, this season wasn’t as stellar as some previous, but it was a good season all the same. It got me thinking about the finer, more overlooked points to the show, however.
I think a small part of every one of us wants to be Jack Bauer, in some sense. He’s a man’s man, the guy you can count on to get the job done. But one thing I think Keifer Sutherlin and the directors have been able to really capture is why we don’t want to be Jack Bauer. Sure, the guy can pop twelve terrorists, get in a fistfight with the ringleader, and run him up by a chain (After the now classic line, “Say hello to your brother for me.”, all after holding on to the bottom of a garbage truck for ten minutes, and sure, he can break just about any human being on the planet, but this season, if nothing else, underscores, why would you want to? Keifer Sutherlin’s portrayal of Jack this season really makes you realize the effect all those years have had on the man. He was fine torturing terrorists for information, but after 18 months of the Chinese torturing him, he starts to realize that something’s amiss with it all.
The torment of Jack really came out in the pseudo-soliloquy he delivers towards the end of the season finale.
I just watched my father die, and I felt nothing. You know why? Yeah, you know why. Because that man was dead to me years ago. I admired you, I looked up to you like a father. You were the kind of man I wanted to be, and you took advantage of it… Earlier today, you said that I was cursed. That anyone I touched ended up dead or ruined. How dare you, how DARE you. The only thing I did, the only thing I have EVER done, is what you and people like you have asked of me. I’m not interested in what you think this country owes me. I want my life back, and I want it now… In case you’ve forgotten, I’m very good at disappearing, and if you try sending someone after us, I’ll kill them. Pretty good at that too.
The buildup over the years has left Jack numb, unable to stomach the violence he needs to survive the day, but unable to stop it, either. Eventually, all of the killing will get to you. And that’s why you don’t want to be Jack.
Well, whoever’s been following the latest at Blizzard entertainment has probably seen this, but I felt the need to explain this anyway.
Recently, Blizzard had a countdown going, listing every day one of their previous titles, and at the end of the timeline was a big “?”. Speculation ran rampant as the countdown drew nearer, and now the countdown is done, and the question answered: Just what the heck does Blizzard have up their sleeve?
Starcraft II, kiddies, and not a moment too soon.
I played this in high school. It goes down as one of my absolute favorite games ever. How Blizzard kept this under wraps for so long is beyond me, but it was worth the suspense.
Unfortunately, this means I’ll probably have to look into upgrading my system. Jerks.
Have you ever noticed when guys get in groups, a lot of times they start talking about how they got scars and whatnot? Y’know, war wounds from playing sports, fishing accidents, etc. Well, I was with a group the other day, all of them former high school jocks, and we had that kind of conversation, talking up our scars and whatnot. They’re all talking, “I got this scar on my shin when I got slide tackled playing soccer.”, and”Yeah, well I got this one from a defensive end who hit me with sharpened helmet buckles.”, and I pointed to a cut on my knuckle and said, “Well, I got this one in a fight.”
“What? When?”
“Just last week.”
“What happened?”
“I got jumped by a cardboard box. He got in the first hit, but I flattened him after that.”
I’m sure everyone’s read by now the articles about the Martyr Mouse debacle in Palestine. As sick as that is, the other day on my way home, my improvisational mind actually started writing the theme song set to the Mickey Mouse Club theme song.
PLEASE NOTE! The sentiments expressed in the song do not reflect those of the author.
Who’s the leader of the club
To bomb the USA?
M-A-R-T-Y-R M-O-U-S-E
Hey! there, Hi! there, Ho! there
We’ll shoot everyone we see
M-A-R-T-Y-R M-O-U-S-EMartyr Mouse!
(Jihad Duck!)
Martyr Mouse!
(Jihad Duck!)
Forever let us hold firearms
High! High! High! High!
…
I feel so dirty…
So I’m presently in posession of an IBM thinkpad 2611 452 laptop, courtesy of Jenn’s family. It’s old, I think the processor’s a 366 Mhz Celeron, but I think I can get it running again if I can replace the power supply. Seems to be in pretty good shape. If nothing else, it’ll make a great “tinker” laptop.
Now the ultimate question… Will it run a decent operating system? :-p
Apparently not.
Jack Thompson targets Wendy’s due to Wii promotion
Apparently, by running a promo with toys from Excite Truck, Mario, et. al, Wendy’s is directly supporting Manhunt 2. To quote the Dread Pirate Roberts, “Truly, you have a dizzying intelect.”
In other news, Mike Tyson’s suing nintendo over the lack of realism in its game, citing the fact that he couldn’t bite off his opponent’s ear in Wii Sports Boxing…