I would like to touch on a subject that makes me almost ill with disgust.
Today I went online to log onto my Pokerstars account to play some online poker. When I logged on I got a nice pop-up notice explaining that due to government regulation, they will no longer be allowing Washington State residents to play real-money poker. Essentially they said, empty your accounts because they are now deemed useless.
Now from the looks of things Pokerstars exclusively is the one to enact this bullshit rule, but it shouldn't be long before they're all on board.
First off, poker rooms around here are few and far between and at none of them can I comfortably gamble in my pajamas while watching reruns of Seinfeld. Not to mention some of the shady neighborhoods you must enter while enduring the stench of some drunk bastard ignoring courtesy and playing as he or she sees fit in their intoxicated state.
I would understand if it was completely made illegal to gamble in the state of Washington... I'd disagree with that, but at least they'd be consistent. No; Instead, they're attempting to funnel the gambling to the reservations.
[WARNING: IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE COMMENTS THAT CAN BE VIEWED AS POLITICALLY INCORRECT, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM CONTINUING TO READ]
Listen, I understand the ideas of the reservations. I understand the idea of leaving the opportunity to preserve and cultivate a culture. What I do not understand is abusing the system put in place to ‘equalize’ things, to rape the rights of others.
The reason I am upset is because our slimy politicians allowed their integrity to be compromised by having their pockets greased so that the right to take people’s money via gambling was held exclusively by a group of people that “had dibs” on this land over 500 years ago. If I’m not allowed to complain about the referees from Super Bowl 40 anymore, the statute of limitations for making NEW rules influenced by ideals bred from the Reservation is up! I don’t mean to defile a culture with this rant, but if this country is going to evolve built on principles like equality, it must maintain its integrity.
I have no problem giving these reservations exclusive rights to running a casino void of smoking rules or rules against slot machines. But if gambling online is legal on the National level, why the fuck is it illegal in Washington? Simple; because if we play from our offices, it takes away from the revenue of the reservations. And do not even get me started on that Paris Hilton-like existence. If only I could be paid an obscene allowance based on who my family was…
Imagine you work for Boeing and you travel a lot for work and your favorite place to stay was the Residence Inn. But the Hiltons greased the pockets of Boeing officials so that when you travel, in order to be reimbursed, you have to stay at a hotel owned by Hilton. Hiltons service is shitty, their room service is mediocre and the buildings are generally on the outskirts of the city, making it way less convenient for your travel schedule… It's no more expensive to stay at the Residence Inn and they offer a shuttle and are within city limits allowing you to limit the car rental spending. How pissed would you be? Wouldn’t you feel raped by the system?
I’m sure some of you will read this in disgust but frankly I’m simply about being fair. Just like I think Affirmative Action is no longer necessary at this point in society and how I think it’s ridiculous that some women are quick to utilize the full-extent of their maternity leave multiple times then complain about not being paid as much as the person who is at work every day of his/her career with the company. If you want to debate those topics, get at me. But at the end of the day, I can no longer play online poker for reasons unreasonable to a reasonably reasonable gentleman…
Fucking politicians. Vote out the incumbent. Oh wait, there are even more shit bags waiting in line for their shot to take advantage of their role in society. The ego and the id strike again.
Fuck it. I’m all in.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
A good movie is not Expendable
I'm a movie lover. I have lots of them, I've seen lots of them, I can quote lots of them... Some call a movie a bomb, I find a way to enjoy it; I even find benefit in the shitty titles.
I, unlike a lot of people, can differentiate between a good movie and an entertaining movie. Much like in life, you can complain about the scenery or you can find a way to enjoy the ride. Once you're trained in this skill of simple identification, you can make lemonade out of donkey urine.
A good movie is a film that keeps you thinking after the movie is over. A good movie is worth bringing up as it's own subject of a conversation. A good movie will affect your thought processes forever.
Simple objects, visuals or songs can be an instant cue to a powerful scene as evidence that you've seen a "good movie".
Without going too deeply into the idea, take the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. Most any person with a competitive drop of blood in their veins will hear that song and have a sense of motivation or excitement. A good movie took a shitty 80's song and turned it into a motivational energy that can literally be effective for a lifetime.
But there are also different levels of good movies. There are those good movies that everyone can agree on.
Good Will Hunting
Shawshank Redemption
The Godfather
There are the good movies that everyone understands to be a "good movie" but may not have held it so high.
Citizen Kane
Jaws
Its a Wonderful Life
Then there are personal favorites-- these can't be listed as a favorite movie without a brief justification to someone.
Hot Rod- Retardedly humorous
Labrynth- Ludo was a g... Plus my dog looks like Sir Didymus
Lionheart- I'm a sucker for Van Damme's jumping spin kicks
I'm lucky though... In darn near every movie, I can find something good about it. I watched The Expendables tonight and I loved it. Not because the cinematography was perfect or because the plot was good, I liked it because it was entertaining.
Throwing knives to the throat, unreasonable escapes, huge explosions and an absolute ALL-STAR CAST OF BAD ASSERY.
Bruce Willis, Gov. Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Stone Cold, Eric Roberts, Liutenant Batista from Dexter, Mickey Rourke and I'm pretty sure I saw one of the Noguera bros from UFC as a soldier... Which would make perfect sense considering some of the cast and fights included in the movie. Who leg sweeps a dude and pulls an armbar in the middle of a ten-person gunfight?
Stallone is getting old but is still ripped as hell and surprisingly Rambo did a good job of keeping the story moving so you didn't have time to reflect on the improbable progression of events. But Sly knew what he was doing.
Lets make a movie with lots of fighting, lots of killing and little time to contemplate a bathroom break.
At the end of the movie I found comfort in the fact that the group of 8 dudes would only attack Jason Statham one at a time, so he could defeat them with lighting fast reflexes. Some might have seen that as a bad part of the movie but I had the perspective where that shit made me laugh---typical action movie. I also liked the fact that Stallone got his ass kicked and that the only real female character wasn't some hot chick that had 8 years of combat training.
This movie had TERRIBLE CGI at points and had a flimsy story, but it was outweighed by the funny one-liners, group of superstars and unnecessary violence. I LOVED IT.
My compeletely unclear point of this all, is perspective. You control it and it's pretty powerful.
You could see a poorly written story or an opportunity to watch a crap-ton of bad guys get killed in a variety of grotesque ways.
If you got laid off, that sucks, but I'd be willing to bet you weren't at your "dream job"-- Maybe it's time to go after that dream job.
Maybe you develop an allergy to one of your favorite foods. Maybe it'll help you eat a healthier diet which ends up adding 10 years to your life.
POINT IS... when you see a movie, it doesn't necessarily have to be a good to be entertaining.
I, unlike a lot of people, can differentiate between a good movie and an entertaining movie. Much like in life, you can complain about the scenery or you can find a way to enjoy the ride. Once you're trained in this skill of simple identification, you can make lemonade out of donkey urine.
A good movie is a film that keeps you thinking after the movie is over. A good movie is worth bringing up as it's own subject of a conversation. A good movie will affect your thought processes forever.
Simple objects, visuals or songs can be an instant cue to a powerful scene as evidence that you've seen a "good movie".
Without going too deeply into the idea, take the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. Most any person with a competitive drop of blood in their veins will hear that song and have a sense of motivation or excitement. A good movie took a shitty 80's song and turned it into a motivational energy that can literally be effective for a lifetime.
But there are also different levels of good movies. There are those good movies that everyone can agree on.
Good Will Hunting
Shawshank Redemption
The Godfather
There are the good movies that everyone understands to be a "good movie" but may not have held it so high.
Citizen Kane
Jaws
Its a Wonderful Life
Then there are personal favorites-- these can't be listed as a favorite movie without a brief justification to someone.
Hot Rod- Retardedly humorous
Labrynth- Ludo was a g... Plus my dog looks like Sir Didymus
Lionheart- I'm a sucker for Van Damme's jumping spin kicks
I'm lucky though... In darn near every movie, I can find something good about it. I watched The Expendables tonight and I loved it. Not because the cinematography was perfect or because the plot was good, I liked it because it was entertaining.
Throwing knives to the throat, unreasonable escapes, huge explosions and an absolute ALL-STAR CAST OF BAD ASSERY.
Bruce Willis, Gov. Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Stone Cold, Eric Roberts, Liutenant Batista from Dexter, Mickey Rourke and I'm pretty sure I saw one of the Noguera bros from UFC as a soldier... Which would make perfect sense considering some of the cast and fights included in the movie. Who leg sweeps a dude and pulls an armbar in the middle of a ten-person gunfight?
Stallone is getting old but is still ripped as hell and surprisingly Rambo did a good job of keeping the story moving so you didn't have time to reflect on the improbable progression of events. But Sly knew what he was doing.
Lets make a movie with lots of fighting, lots of killing and little time to contemplate a bathroom break.
At the end of the movie I found comfort in the fact that the group of 8 dudes would only attack Jason Statham one at a time, so he could defeat them with lighting fast reflexes. Some might have seen that as a bad part of the movie but I had the perspective where that shit made me laugh---typical action movie. I also liked the fact that Stallone got his ass kicked and that the only real female character wasn't some hot chick that had 8 years of combat training.
This movie had TERRIBLE CGI at points and had a flimsy story, but it was outweighed by the funny one-liners, group of superstars and unnecessary violence. I LOVED IT.
My compeletely unclear point of this all, is perspective. You control it and it's pretty powerful.
You could see a poorly written story or an opportunity to watch a crap-ton of bad guys get killed in a variety of grotesque ways.
If you got laid off, that sucks, but I'd be willing to bet you weren't at your "dream job"-- Maybe it's time to go after that dream job.
Maybe you develop an allergy to one of your favorite foods. Maybe it'll help you eat a healthier diet which ends up adding 10 years to your life.
POINT IS... when you see a movie, it doesn't necessarily have to be a good to be entertaining.
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