The Grade I Deserve in Opinion Journalism

Looking back at my blogs now, it appears I am missing two (which were missed very early on) and have ended the semester with 63 blogs (combined with Online Journalism). That's a lot of blogs. There are some blogs that I enjoyed writing, which can usually be noticed by their length and those that I did not. Unfortunately many of the blogs I did not care much for happened to be those that I had to present in class, which was somewhat disappointing considering I am much more enthusiastic about the things that interest me. Despite that, I did almost all of the work and did it on time (with two or three blogs saved for the last minute) and it should go without saying that I at least deserve a B.

Do I deserve an A though? Well I'm not entirely sure if that is mathematically possible, but in the event that it is I would like appeal to the powers that be. When the semester began I didn't care at all for my blog and thought it was a silly prospect. The more I posted the more I came to enjoy writing about... well whatever was on my mind I guess. One of my random blogs was 3,000 words long! My ability to educate the class about random topics may not have been incredible by any stretch of the imagination, but when I stated my opinions about things I am passionate about I backed them up! I truly cared about what I was saying in these instances and thought whoever was reading would hopefully benefit from my insight.

So do I deserve an A in this class? I guess I'm not so sure, but I would like one. B's are good too though I suppose.

Whatever I happen to make in this class... it won't stop me from playing Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire when I get home... that game was so awesome.

CD Review

I recently sat down and listened to an 80's mixed CD which turned out to be nothing like I had expected. When I think 80's music I think of songs like Safety Dance and Take On Me. For some reason I hadn't even considered it could be anything different... I was of course wrong in my assumption. The CD was a strange mix of Rock and some other genres I don't really know how to label. There were some songs I vaguely recognized, but for the most part I hadn't a clue to what or who I was listening to.

With that said the songs were hit or miss. There was some decent songs that had some catchy melodies and just downright strange lyrics, which were generally good for the most part. What annoyed me the most however were some of the vocals. A few songs on the CD featured terrible singers that sounded worse than scratching a crying baby against a chalkboard made of 10-year-old male sopranos. And what was up with that Dancing in the Lesbian Club song? For some reason those bizarre lyrics perplexed the hell out of me.

This 80's CD did more good than harm though considering I now understand that there were entire genres in the 80's I didn't even know existed... even if I don't exactly enjoy listening to said genres. Overall it was a fairly decent CD. I give it 3 Lesbian Clubs out of 5.

The Visit Review

A play review! I have never done one of these before... I mean I have seen many plays in my time, but I have never actually sat down and broke down a play in a review before. So what do I have to say about The Visit? Well, I liked it, so that's a good start.

The Visit is play taking place in the small German town of Guellen where a billionairess, who grew up in the town, returns from her life of adventure. Everyone's all happy and excited about her return until they realize that she wants revenge on her former lover Alfred for damning her to prostitution and exile. The horrible truth of what happened during her youth slowly comes out throwing blame all around, and ultimately driving Alfred mad when he suspects everyone is out to kill him. Without giving anything else away I pretty much summed up the whole play in one paragraph... and that's the problem. The play takes far too long to explain what little is really going on in the plot. A two hour play would have been sufficient, but I am pretty sure it was closer to three hours if not longer.

Another thing that bothered me was the lack of accents on part of the actors. Don't get me wrong, the acting was actually pretty good, but the only person who even attempted it was the Mayor. I was also confused by (SPOILER) Alfred's death scene. It looked like the towns peole collectively curb-stomped him... which would have been a horrible way to die. Other than those complaints however, I really didn't have any problems with the play. The acting was solid and the set and costumes looked legitimate. It was just an hour too long.

I give it 4 blind-witnesses out of 5.

Why Should I Be Hired?

Why should I be hired you ask? Well, as far as I can tell I have unique tastes and interests and usually hold strong opinions for those various topics. I generally don't fall behind on my work and, when possible, try to go bound what is expected. I like to think I can give useful advice and insight on those topics that I am proficient in while adding humor and wit whenever appropriate. Ideas are my specialty and generating and refining them comes naturally to me whether on a daily basis.

I know a lot about comic books and video games and I love kittens... honestly that's all I can think of. Oh yeah, once I put my mind to something its hard to pull myself away from it whether its reading something, being hard at work or playing a video game. That should be a positive quality.

WHALE-MAN!

Apparently there are a bunch of dude's who wander the oceans of the world hunting for fishermen committing heinous crimes against the animal populous. These renegade sea-vigilantes record their prey committing these crimes for evidence in the event that those parties choose to fight them in court (which they never do). The Sea Shepard II is a boat with a devastatingly powerful reinforced hull designed to disable its enemies. Basically they ram the bad guys and make them cower away with their tails between their legs.

So... this begs the question... is this ethical? The answer... BATMAN.

Now... technically vigilantism is illegal, but if you have the tool required to succeed in your affair without collateral damage then you have my blessing. Ethics is something that exists outside of the law. If your moral compass dictates that what these people are doing is wrong then you have the liberty to do something about it (but remember, the enemies have rights too). Fortunately the law dictates that the bad guys are doing something illegal so these super-marine animal-heroes have the law on their side (more so than the fishermen anyway).

When it comes down to it this is a question of perspective. The fishermen may not think what they are doing is wrong but they more than likely know it is illegal. This is enough to justify the vigilantes' actions in my mind, as long as they do not injure or kill any of the baddies.

Oh yeah and one last point: personal responsibility. They need to be aware that what they are doing is incredibly dangerous to themselves and their crew. They take this upon themselves when they attempt to utilize their own brand of justice.

Anyway, so yeah. I am a comic book geek so it would be silly for me to not agree with their actions.

My Favorite.... VILLAIN!

Alright, alright... he's not really my FAVORITE villain of all time, but he's pretty high up there because he's such a champ and I want to talk about him in light of his upcoming comic event. So who is it you may ask?.... Get ready....

THANOS, THE MAD TITAN!

So who's this Thanos character? Thanos is one of the most dangerous, feared, powerful and notorious villains of the Marvel Universe known for having and unwavering will and unstoppable resolve. When he sets his sight on a goal he will not stop until he has conquered that goal entirely.

What makes him such a super bad ass? Well, for one, he is in love with the corporeal manifestation of Death who constantly ignores his attempts at wooing her. He has gone as-so-far as to kill half of the sentient life in the universe instantaneously with a snap of his finger when he obtained the reality altering super weapon known as the Infinity Gauntlet.

His powers include but are not limited to: Extraordinary Super Strength (Hulk level), Speed, Reflexes, Stamina and nearly indestructible. Able to manipulate and project cosmic energy; matter manipulation; telekinesis and limited telepathy, and courtesy of advanced technology is capable of force field projection; time travel, movement through alternate universes and teleportation over interstellar distances. Thanos is also a master strategist and super genius level intelligence (possibly smarter than Mr. Fantastic).

Despite being the Avatar of Oblivion (the manifestation of the Universal concept of "Oblivion/Death") and infatuated with Death, Thanos is actually an incredibly complex character that has been known to do good. He may still be considered evil, but he is ultimately a dramatic villain who's nature as a bad guy is not necessarily due to selfish reasons, but because he believes he may ultimately do what he believes is right.

Whatever his reason for knocking down your door, know that if you get on his bad side you're chances of living are not very likely. Read up on this guy. He's as bad ass as a villain can get.

Thanos' new story starts with the one-shot, Thanos Imperative: Ignition arrives at comic book stores in May.

Modern Philosophy

Modern Philosophy is a philosophical movement in Western Europe and North America in the 17th to 20th centuries. It consists of many thoughts and doctrines, but many share common threads. It is disputed how much of the Renaissance is included.

Modern philosophy traditionally begins with Rene Descartes and his dictum "I think, therefore I am."

The major players in philosophy of mind, epistemology, and metaphysics during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are divided into two main groups:

The Rationalists assumed that all knowledge must begin from certain "innate ideas" in the mind. Major Rationalists were: Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz and Nicolas Malebranche

The Empiricists held that knowledge must begin with sensory experience. Major Empiricists were: John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume.

Big political philosophers of Modern Philosophy included Thomas Hobbs and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

In an attempt to bring unity to Rationalism and Empiricism, Immanuel Kant inspired the German Idealism movement. The characteristic theme of idealism was that the world and the mind equally must be understood according to the same categories. Karl Marx appropriated both Hegel's philosophy of history and the empirical ethics dominant in Britain, transforming Hegel's ideas into a strictly materialist form, to be used as a tool for revolution.