Quality Vs. Quantity

Posted at 4:15 pm on June 4, 2008

So initially I was hung up on having to make every single post a polished work of art. This has made me less likely to post at all. So I’m opting for quantity today and just posting something off the top of my head. What to talk about? How about the weather?

So the weather here in “undisclosed-location-with-subways-and-the-statue-of-liberty” is pretty damn drastic especially in spring. One day I’m putting away the hooded sweatshirt and busting out the shades and sunscreen. The next, I’m layering with my waterproof jacket on. Hell this goes on in the same day in spring time.

You know what this reminds me of? Videogame weather. You all know what I’m talking about. A game developer puts a weather variation engine in their game and they have it go from sunny to rainy every three minutes. I experienced this with a number of games.

This city really is like a game in many respects. In fact, you could apply a game mechanic to a number of situations. e.g walking, taking the subway, managing money

Maybe that’s my draw to this place. Maybe my gamer instincts are put to the test here and therefore fulfilled, giving me a sense of gratification. Oh who knows?

Anyway I didn’t expect this post to make a whole lot of sense. I’m just writing.

R

Predators

Posted at 11:49 am on April 9, 2008

No, I’m not going to write about the awesome late 80’s action flick involving the kick-assest alien to fictionally grace the planet earth. I just had a thought. Random thought. Sexual Predators. Particularly pedophiles.

Go and ask someone to describe to you a pedophile. They’d probably give you images of playgrounds with with tan cars parked across the street. They’ll tell you about the hooded sweatshirts. The apples and candy in outstretched arms. Churches. Schools. Youth groups. Now stop them and ask what gender that pedophile is. You might get a pause and look of confusion as if to say “What are you talking about? Of course they’re male.” You, yourself, might be thinking this as you read this blog. This is what I’ve realized about my mind recently.

I’ve been raised all my life to recognize the tell tale signs of nasty, lecherous sexual predators. Never take candy from strangers. Never go with people who claim to know your parents. I’ve seen the videos. I never thought about this before, but those videos always showed men as being the guilty party, the people in the hooded sweat shirts, the arms holding the candy and apples. And who can forget the stereotypical mustache?

I learned from those videos. I learned so well that as I was walking through my apartment just now I couldn’t for the life of me get a mental picture of what a FEMALE sexual predator looks like. What are the tell tale signs of them? Do they drive the same tan Chevy Malibu? Are their sweatshirts pink with sparkles on them? This I’d like to know.

Seem like pointless question? Let me give you practical scenario. A couple years back, I volunteered at a Big Brother/ Big Sister center in Portland, OR. There I was introduced to a very interesting policy. Male volunteers were only allowed to mentor boys, while Female volunteers could be paired with a either boy or girl. Does that seem a little messed up to you? Did they not think that women were capable of similar heinous acts? I sure hope so because that might bite them in the ass some day.

I do agree that there haven’t been that many cases involving a female sexual predator, but is that any reason to let our guard down?

And for those women out there cry foul at my questioning this….welcome to the club, girls. Equality’s a bitch isn’t it?

- e.Lucas

Sexist with gore?

Posted at 9:47 pm on March 19, 2008

I think I have a problem. I think I’m sexist when it comes to gore.

Usually I’m very pro-male. I root for dudes playing Jeopardy and not the girls. I get riled up when I see dating advice columns condemning all men as heartless jerks. I hate phrases like “oh well, you’re a guy.” Usually I’m like that.

But when it comes to seeing people die horrible grisly deaths or suffering brutal mutilations in movies. I prefer to see men. I don’t know why. When a movie shows a woman getting torn limb from limb, blown to pieces, or massacred in any twisted sort of way it really messes me up. And the worst part is that it sticks with me weeks, sometimes months after.

Here’s some examples of scenes that have stayed with me over the years:

Cloverfield – The scene where the chick explodes. What the hell? I still can’t get that out of my head.

Sleepy Hollow – The end part where the evil witch gets tangled up and crushed in the roots of the tree. I know. She was evil. But it STILL messed me up!

Pitch Black – That tough lady gets swooped up by those little bug things and gets chewed up in seconds. I didn’t even find her that attractive. Still sticks with me.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 – When that Japanese / French chick gets her arm sliced off. Again she’s a bad guy, yet it doesn’t matter. It’s pretty basic, but it still affects me.

Invasion U.S.A. (Old Chuck Norris film) – Some coke head lady is snorting a line off a table and gets the thing shoved up her nose by accident. Then as she’s screaming in pain she’s thrown out the window of a high-rise building. See? It sticks with me.

With guys, I can see armies of them hacked to pieces, burned alive, or mowed down with bullets and I won’t even flinch most of the time. Sometimes it’s funny.

Anybody else this way? Anybody care to explain my gory sexism? Help me. I want to be equal in my head.

- e.Lucas