State of the Union

To start off I would tell the American people that everything and everybody is screwed and that they should immediately report to army surplus stores to purchase a helmet. They would then be instructed to keep that helmet nearby at all times in case of my newly indoctrinated threat warning alerts. The alert as inspired by Ron White would be to put on the helmet. In these uncertain times I find it to be a valid purchase. Just kidding of course, besides the American people are quite easily startled and stricken with fear that even mention of such a thing would drive them to soil themselves. I would in any actual scenario tell people a little bit of the truth and a little sugar coating. The people are not ready and do not actually want despite what they say, the truth. I would instill with them words of hope as that is all they need from my vocals. I would start off on the subject of the wellness of the country as a whole. I would be sure to praise all our victories and spin around our faults. I would boast any wins in the economy and things in the job market. I would speak of our areas of improvement but affirm them that as a whole we can if unified tackle any obstacle that obstructs us from our prosperity. I would tell them I am disappointed in our gradual success and give them words of challenge and encouragement. They need to be challenged as the modern Rome that we are. I would tell them the truth about the schools but affirm that with a steady unified push that we may turn it around. I would then again tell them we could do better. That with proper planning we can give students a better education that is more accessible to those that desire it and such. I would talk of our success in our conflicts overseas and affirm that we continue to draw back personnel overseas. Affirm that our role to be depleting in overseas conflicts. Talk of foiled terror plots and the success of our intelligence community. Make the people of the United States feel protected by affirm them to be vigilant. I would mention on the state of politics that we must bond together and reference Lincoln, in his quotes on how America will not be destroyed from the outside but from ourselves from the inside. No use of fighting in the war room so to speak on the state of particularly violent and and aggressive political discourse. I would speak of the companies that are having their greatest successes being here in America. I would talk of some companies manufacturing here instead of overseas. Talk of lowering unemployment and the rising job market. Talk of getting the services to the right people and casting off the leeches who would abuse them. Tell them how things even so dark as they are will be bright again one day. A new tommorow will soon be here as long as we continue in the direction we are going. That as a country we shall not give up and we will rise from our ailments and make a nation greater than before. 

Memories

What is my earliest memory? What a particular question that deserves a particular answer. My earliest memory is pretty fuzzy like watching an old VHS tape. The memory I believe harkens back quite early into my childhood. If I recall it was me in my crib in my room. My room was dark so I would think the lights were off and it was night. There was though the large amount of light protruding through the open doorway. I believe it was my mother standing in the doorway. I think I was in some kind of distress which was probably my dislike of being in the darkness which is something I still dislike today. I'm not sure there is anything more than that to remember about it, its quite like a single picture. Nothing to remember of its sound or really anything more. It is a particularly faint memory but it is my earliest I believe. A more vivid but early memory I think would have me older and constructing a box. The box would have me on the kitchen floor with my grandfather. I believe it to be the same box in my room on my dresser. Using tools I think that came with it I believe. Painting it with a small set of paints from the box. I with the help of my grandfather put together the box. I don't remember it being quite too hard as there wasn't much to put together. I remember a couple sounds from the hammering of the nails with the hammer. I remember most of my immediate family being there moving around the house. I remember being quite intrigued by the hidden pullout panel at the bottom of the box. Under it one could hide rather flat or small objects. Deception and trickery being an interest of mine from an early year factoring into the fascination. The memory is pretty significant. It brings back other memories of my grandfather whom I hold quite fondly in memory. Truly a great man ripped from the world and me just like most things I have grown fond of but that is besides the point. Another memory somewhat far back would be when I first started to ride my prized star wars darth maul bike without the training wheels. A nerve-racking experience with my mother on the sidewalk across the street. A frightening experience when your a chronically fear stricken child at the mercy of yourself and gravity. No training wheels on the bright summer's afternoon. I can remember the utter fear and dislike of the urgings of my mother. Her pushing leaving me on my bike in motion for a short period learning to pedal unaided by the training wheels. I don't think I had truly succeeded that day in liberating to ride the bike unaided but it was a step forward. I would eventually in the coming retries suffer through the fear and anxiety of falling which I probably did do anyways multiple times. These are of course only a small portion of my early memories but they are quite significant in my early life and how I grew to become the person I am today. 

Nature

The balance of nature, the balance of nature, I believe it is the simple balance of plants and animal life across the planet. It's the balance of life and the ground it stands upon. It's the actions and reactions that keep everything in check. It's life's system of maintaining homeostasis through earth's systems. It maintains the fragile balance through its encouragement of the various natural occurrences  like the water cycles, food chains, and the simple process of life and death unless your a lobster. The processes keep everything in check like when animal is killed which is eaten then the remains decay feeding the environment. I personally believe the world keeps itself in check by is seemingly various globe changing events. The natural world is in check to some degree but mostly has been thrown off course. Truly the great variable to the world has been humanity as it has evolved across many millennia. Humanity's evolution has given it highly advanced brains that have lead us to chose the impossible and sadly the unethical. In humanity's quest for resources we have dominated the planet and continue to abuse it in all our terrible sense of entitlement. We have destroyed the fauna and flora. We have terraformed and laid fire to the land. In our process of survival against ourselves we have thoroughly disrupted the planet. We strip ecosystems of predators and the prey. We destroy the homes and communities of thousands of species and organisms. We like a storm have interrupted nature and threaten the earth as a whole. We even arm ourselves to destroy the world with nuclear weapons and bioagents. We have turned earth into a habitat for only humanity. We no longer see the wholly mammoth or the buffalo thanks to us. The large beasts use to roam the land a part of an orderly ecosystem until we disturbed it. Then even now we seek to disrupt the new ecosystem by cloning the mammoth, truly to fix something already fixed. We do try to do right with the planet. We have cordoned off the most undisturbed of places to preserve nature. We have tried to use more nature friendly technology to prevent future destruction. Through the damage is done, humanity tried to rub ointment on earths gaping wound and is delusional in figuring it can fix it. Disaster can not be solved by its creator. We cannot fix the damage done by us as we cannot conceive what we have done. The only thing to fix nature is itself. Nature I believe will fix nature, it retakes things it's lost, it's fixes what is broken, and will right the wrongs done to it. It's an unstoppable process that will fix the damage done to it as we continue to be a part of nature. Nature constantly rebuilds itself and fights for itself it in a way is much like us in that it will do anything it needs to survive and prosper against all odds and oppressors.

Time Warp

I would like to go back and see mostly the early half of the 1900s. I would love to see the changes throughout it. Things such as how America went from world wild card to the superpower of the west in 46 years. How the west went to massive industrialization in structure. Many people and things to be seen throughout the early half of the 1900s and I'd like to see it. I'd first step off and see many countries going full industrialization and the many products that came with it. I'd like to see the early new inventions like the lightbulb and things like the early automobiles. Possibly see the Wright brothers test their first airplane. I'd like to meet and understand the emerging anarchist movements and witness the radical anarchist bombings that were prevalent in the early 1900s. I'd like to see Ford's assembly lines. I'd like to witness breaking points like Archduke Ferdinand's and President McKinley's assassination. I'd like to witness the trenches of WW1 and the new war machines of the era. The fighter plane and the tank in its most juvenile state would be nice to see. I'd hope to see Theodore Roosevelt and his trust busting and radical progressive leading of the United States. I'd like to see the Great Depression and the impact of made on the people of the world and the United States. I would most like to meet one of my idols, Howard Hughes. I would see him in his early days as the ambitious aviator he was. I would accompany to his film sets at RKO as he directed films like The Outlaw and Hells Angels. I'd seem him up to the end of his prime at the beginning of being a las vegas baron where he kicked the mob of their hierarchy of la Vegas. I'd also like to specifically meet Walt Disney, my other idol and one of the few who had a clue. I'd like to see his early works as they were presented at the time. Such as the origins of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie and see the original beginnings of his fantastical fantasy world Disney World. I'd like to take in the fashions of time and snag some suits before I leave. I would witness the atomic bomb tests and meet Oppenheimer. I would be witness to many a revolutions such as the Bolshevik revolution and Cuba revolution. I'd like to see Hitler coming to power and see his sparking of WW2. I would see Lenin and Stalin and their communist preaches. I would venture to England to see my more recent ancestors. I would see the Roswell UFO incident before being carted away by G-men. I would listen to all the great music at the time and visit the musicians in their prime. Musicians like Bing Crosby and Sinatra would be great to see when they were young. I would also like to see the artist Salvador Dali in all his glory eccentrics. I would then return to the future where I would face the consequence to anything I possibly had screwed up in the time space continuum. 

Super jail

My idealized prison system would be one like Super Jail from the appropriately named show SuperJail. One where criminals are ensnared and transported to by a flying deathbot. Then subjected to a hellish land where they are frequently maimed or murdered in prison bloodbaths frequently due to the Jailbot's homicidal tendencies and the Warden's miscalculated plans. For the sake of the topic I will put away my idealization of a prison system for something more rendered in reality and feasibility. Prisons definitely should exist, so we can house the horrors of society. We can't kill them all because we probably can't afford the body bags and as a society we can not bank on black and white morality. A murderer of the worst and most proved kind should have his or her life taken as well. A thief should be jailed and stripped of the stolen goods and fined. Criminals should be doing time. Time is the ultimate punishment or currency as it can not be payed back. It's not buyable or sellable, you have it for as long as you are afforded it by Father Time or Flying Spaghetti Monster. Time affords the existing with rotting. Murder should get the most time. The most vile of murderers and body counts should be given life in prison or the injection. Murderers of different wrongs should be given time appropriate to their wrongs for less or more. Thieves of anything should be given a moderate amount of time. I figure a thief taking belongings and property is redeemable. A fair sentence should be awarded based on the amount stolen and even none if the crime is quite mundane. A fine could substitute a sentence for small thefts. There are exceptions for grand thefts such as Madoff's schemes. I wonder, if technology arises could he get the necessary cybernetic enhancements and gene therapy to live beyond he sentence and get out of jail? Of course those are only dreams of the future but it's a pondering thought due to my interest in future technological advancements and transhuamism. Rapists the most vile of vile should be given the time and treatment of murderers and given a lot of time behind bars. Many crimes are given fair justice in the prison system and I feel no reason to change them. The only problem I see is the current apprehension and process we apprehend criminals. It's severely flawed and poorly vitalized. I do think we should give some criminals of extremely good behavior and of petty crime an early release. If they are fit and properly evaluated I don't see too much harm in letting them go. Certainly murderers and sex offenders wouldn't be let go early. I figure it's better they be subjected to the possibly more hellish real world then being in the penal system sucking from Uncle Sam's good will.

Wild Card: Nerdy time

The nerd rage inside me due to recent events must come out. I this past Saturday have watched Spike TV's Video Game Awards. I'm sorry I watched the abomination that is Spike TV's embarrassing travesty the Video Game Awards this past Saturday. It like an ulcer has left a hole in my stomach. I can no longer keep my feelings of contempt for the VGAs in no longer. I am so embarrassed by saying I have even watched the VGA that writing about it might lead me to emotional collapse. The VGAs are a poorly thought embarrassment to the Video Game and Geek culture. Spike on a yearly basis has served my family the nerds an oh so decadent platter of feces. The nerds my family if not made aware before took my abandoned on Mt. Olympus baby self in. They raised me to love comics, games, and fantasy. You may see members of my family in the wild or at nerd dens which are known to many as GameStop or comic books shops. This all aside the point that Spike has embarrassed my family once again. My family has been disgraced continually and is continued to be mis appropriated by lousy portrayals and this the Spike VGAs. The Spike VGAs should be called the Spike Video Game Advertisements because that is what it is. It is a horrible marketing event that if not for the corporate bought trophies would be fined for false advertising by calling it an award show. The award part of the show takes the cheap seats of the show this year more than any other year. It is not the Oscars where the awards are the focal point. It is the polar opposite, the announcements are the main point of the event. Why can't I get a on TV VGA with merit. There is such events like ones at GDC or CES but not to be watched on the holy television .  The awards when actually given their spotlight are just sad. The categories are atrocious and lacking and half of them are not even broadcasted. Any ones that actually recognize recipients with actual talent are given at the not televised pre show. Awards such as best voice actor which was full of talented nominees are shafted without true recognition. Look now at the award itself, the aptly named vector monkey. It is of course a monkey with a crown. How does that quite relay to gaming? Maybe the studio of the year picking the awards color in Spike's mind gameifys it enough. The award winners are oh so democratically decided. The viewers vote for the winners. If only that were true, a panel of judges decides the winners. The panel is composed of developers, publishers, and gaming mag employees. Of course that's a stretch admitably, the winners are no doubt probably bought by the corporations. Otherwise if the deserved actually won we would not see crap getting a crown year after year. Next, the celebs of the ceremony is where the real magic is. The host was Zachary Levi of Chuck fame. He is admitably a good choice being a gamer, VA for a few games, and operates a game merch site. Though looking at the rest, one will not find people of appropriateness. Sure we get gaming royalty like Miyamoto of Legend of Zelda and Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear. We get Seth Green who may or not be appropriate. Beyond that we get your filler celebrities. We get the cast of Workaholics of Comedy Central making crappy jokes. We get dumbfounded model Brooklyn Decker, who seemed like a deer in headlights speaking her minds. We even got my favorite the warlock himself Charlie Sheen there, but how is he even related to gaming? Is Charlie next to get a Warlock class for WoW or something? These people are there why? How are they even remotely appropriate or related to gaming? I must give credit to Spike for not parading around porn stars like they did previous years. Atleast they have done that to give the show a disguise of class. They did invite some greats like Mark Hamil and Tara Strong who are known also for being Luke Skywalker or the Joker and Harley Quinn respectively.  Where do I hear they were? If their own tweets and reports to be trusted, they were sited in the far back bleachers. That's right, they put Luke Skywalker and Harley in the nose bleeds. What a disgrace that talent is benched and Hulk Hogan is given the front row. Why can't there be more gaming celebs at the VGAs? It's not like non gamers are tuning in by the score to watch and won't know the people. Bring in Bioshock head Ken Levine or Insomniac Games's Ted Price. Both known well and respected in the community and would give the VGAs merit. Even previous years's Samuel L. Jackson is a choice than models, warlocks, porn stars, and crappy tv stars. Bring out the head of Team Ninja who made Ninja Gaiden, he could provide some actual knowledge and actual jokes to the ceremony after of course he's done cursing and yelling. A new aspect due to its liveness on both coasts is their consequence for too long of a speech. The Oscars had a melody played when a guest over extended his or her allotted time. At the VGAs we get a costplayed soldier who grabs the guest and proceeds to "t-bagg" them. Which is funny in thought but should this be the representation of the culture we get? It's funny but crass and even though we see a COD dev running off at the chime and another being brung down and subjected to a much deserved t-bagg it's not at all a good way to give the culture a face. The thing given the most time wasn't the nominees but the gaming announcements and trailers. When the announcements overide your memory of the actual awards you know there's a problem. I can tell you ever trailer and game shown but not one winner of an award. It's such crap I guess they felt instead of improving stuff they would  add more and more videos to drown out the laughable own stage events. The nominees get 3 seconds to give thanks but Diablo 3 a game even PC players have stopped caring about gets 8 minutes of airtime to show its intro sequence. Even Zelda getting the first Hall of Fame spot was given about 9 seconds and another 3 for Miayamoto to receive a trophy for his involvement. Why can't they afford the deserving actual time and give bits time to be funny and not be rushed along? This is supposed to be an awards show not a montage of upcoming crap. Give me something sensible, something not embarrassing for my respective culture. It's not like they even tried to be an awards show this year, previous years even if they didn't even have more nominees actually accepting awards they at least had more mentioned and announced. The only person who tried was Hideo Kojima who bravely tried to speak English which is not his native language. I hope it will be better next year, it's not even that hard to fix. Cut back a little on gaming montages, no nothing celebs, poor jokes, and I'll thought bits. How hard is that? It will save money in the end when you think about it, why hire the warlock when you can pay pennies to game developers and ezecs that the game community will actually want to see. Things won't change though, it's the Spike network after all. They give us stereotypical male gems that only drunk homophobic frat boys would like. I hope one year to get a respectable ceremony that celebrates gaming properly with at least a touch of class. Maybe next year we will have a slightly less abominable abomination.

3 Week Retreat

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiago? Maybe I'd find her on my travel. I think my first stop would be Japan. I've always found myself attracted to Japan's culture and sights. Their old crossed with western design would be fun to see. The place brims with culture and history. The generation gap of hyper transitional ism and hyper relaxed individualism would be cool to see. I would travel from the peaceful mountains to the bustling cities. Id of course with unlimited funds find myself in high rise and expensive hotels that define luxury. With unlimited money couldn't I just buy the place ala Howard Hughes? I would try my best to take it all in. I find myself wandering the forests and nature hopefully finding upon those trees with the white flowers one sees so much in documentaries. I would pay respect and if possible see some of the destruction left from the disaster. I would visit the museums and tours seeing, hopefully I'd see the crafts and gear of the feudal era and the samurai. I as to my interests find myself visiting Sony and Nintendo stores and true form manga shops. Might aswel try the new foods while I stay there, if I were to try sushi I might aswel go the authentic root. For hilarity's sake I might purchase from the fabled Japanese thong underwear vending machines. Before I leave I would travel finally to Mt. Fiji  to get some perspective on life and think about my time. Then off to the airport for my next stop.
To Spain I would go for my second week. I've always wanted to go there, in all it's beauty. I would love to specifically see the museums and possible remnants of the Spanish Civil War's propaganda and left over wreckage from it's history. Might aswel go skateboarding while I'm there, supposedly they are very friendly to them. Barcelona is known for its good skate spots. Maybe I could test out my Spanish linguistic abilities while I'm there. I'd hope to take in the warm weather while there.  Find myself upon authentic Spanish foods and restaurants. Admire the architecture. Maybe ask the Spaniards of their view of the world and America. Visit the old historical Spanish castles. Watch bullfighting and soccer. Then off to relax at the beaches and hotels and them "el aero puerto" for my next stop.
My last stop is Greece, a fascinating land of history. Beautiful land and relics left mostly untainted by modernism. I would visit all the old historic sites and regions of Athens and Sparta. Purchase some old world replicas and items. Visit the beautiful beaches and land. Fawn over the beautiful Greek women. Try some Greek foods and restaurants. Hopefully not get robbed in the post economy hell scape cities. Take some time to reflect and rest at the resorts and beaches. Maybe bag me some souvenirs for the family and end my time there with the nightlife. I would then head home enlightened by my travels and maybe appreciate my own culture more.