Time

1935
Craven is a little boy.
He can't seem to wake up on time for school everyday, not because he could not, but because he would not.
His mother always had too wake him up in the morning with empty threats.
As empty as the threats were, they always seemed to work.
Seemed because they weren't long term solutions to the problem.
Everyday Craven would wake up scared at the thought of being kicked out of the house at the age of 8, as what could an 8 year old boy do?
His mom looked at him and said "You can spend money and get it back, you can do something wrong and earn forgiveness, but you will never be able to take back time".
He then stopped and took what his mom said to heart.
From that day on Craven was always on time.
............. 1968
Dorothy is 12 years old and about to enter middle school.
About should actually be more like unlikely.
She refuses to go to the same school as the evil little "monster girls" that plagued her during grade school.
Her father being 41 years old at the time had gone through all the worries a young child had gone through.... Most certainly bullies.
Dorothy is forced in her fathers car.
As her father parks his car Dorothy starts to whine.
The father then looks at the daughter and says:
"You do not know what it feels like to stand in front of a crowd ,minutes away from delivering a speech, the most important speech you will ever give, with your future, your families future all on the line". "You don't know how nerve wrecking it is to do that not once but almost everyday of your life". "Yes I may not know what it feels like to be bullied by teenage girls". "But I know things far worse, things that I don't want to do, but do because I have to".
Dorothy was then hugged.
And all her worries went away.
........ 1991
Dorothy is now 35 years old.
She has just left the hospital after having given birth to her 1st child
A girl named Carrol, after her favorite author.
As she steps in her car she can't help but remember that one faithful day.
The day that as a kid she had complained to her father about going to school.
Her father had gently put her in her place.
Then afterwards gently hugged her.
She then thought of all the moments she would be able to share with her little Carrol.
The good.
The bad.
And those moments of wisdom.
She remembered her father.
If she had a boy she would wish that her son would be exactly like her father.
The man who raised her up to be the woman she was.
......... 2011
It was a day of mourning.
As Carrol walked up the hospital steps in the quickest of fashion.
Not caring for how she looked.
She finally spotted the the room she was looking for.
Inside her father was consoling her mother.
Upon realizing their daughter was standing in front of them they gave her the news.
Her grandfather had just passed away.
He lived for 84 years and in that time she had only really known him for 16 years.
And the memories started all coming back.
Her first Football game.
Her first boyfriend.
Her first dance.
Her high school graduation.
All those important moments in her life he had been there for her.
Then the tears started falling.
She realized her grandfather would never see her graduate College.
He would not be there for her first job.
Or worst of all he wouldn't be there for her wedding day.
As the tears filled her face her father went to her and hugged her.
Her father tried to console her.
But the words never got to her.
All she wanted to do was remember all the times with her grandfather.
The good.
The bad.
All the important moments.
The only thing she heard her father say was that "it was grandpa Craven's time"
With that she looked at her parents and hugged them, all while remembering her grandfather.

Chaos

I am sitting in a room trying to read a book. Wanting nothing but to understand motives of the people in the story. As it happens I am in a room with friends, talking, yelling, enjoying. I can not read, I can not understand. While all this is happening I see a window, As I look out the window expecting to see calm warm wind, all I can see is cold, fast, chaos. Chaos is a word deemed to judge something with absolutely no order, and without order there can be no peace. So it is safe to say that there is no peace when there is chaos. As I stare at the harsh (presumably) cold wind blow against the trees, I see my internal struggle play out right before my eyes. Right now I can't seem to find any inner peace. Peace is absolute, peace is no problems, peace is warmth. I can not seem to find warmth, now I am writing this as I am seated in an air-conditioned school so my plight which is completely figurative seems to have taken shape quite literally. Back to making sense, as I look at the window with trees being pulled away by the cold harsh wind, I can't help but remember all the noise that is ever present in my life. Noise that has no reason to be, noise that I can completely deal without, noise that I can find no order in. This lack of peace has me at the precipice, overlooking the violent, red, fire that is my desire, my anger, my rage. For with no peace I am left with my own chaos, chaos that consumes my everyday life, chaos that only calms with rest. I feel the need for warmth, not heat; order, not chaos. As I stare at the window, with the trees being yanked to the left, and as I stare at the precipice over looking all the emotions boiling inside of me, comes something unexpected: warmth. And as the warmth fills my mind I find myself in thought, thought that has me finding beauty. Beauty in the chaos,beauty in what is essentially life. Life which constantly tugs at you, pulling you two sometimes three ways all at once. And as this warmth, this knowledge falls on me I find something even more unexpected: peace. The peace that can only be found in life, harshness, anger, cold, violence, and most importantly chaos. Inner peace, the very thing that I thought impossible to achieve, finally hitting me. And then I look at the window. The wind has stopped blowing. The air seems warm. I look around me. People are gone. Noise is gone. Chaos is gone. Loneliness is what I should be feeling. I am in an empty room. But instead of loneliness I feel....... Relaxed, I feel as if with the people all the worries, problems, hate, anger, all of it are gone. Peace in loneliness, such a cruel way to find what you want. Yet as is life

Green Lantern Movie review (SPOILER WARNING)

GREEN LANTERN TO HAVE IT`S BRIGHTEST DAY? OR BLACKEST NIGHT?

 Now let me start out by saying I am a huge fan of the Green Lantern comics and this review is strictly an opinion, now lets get to what I think. This film is one that had lots of potential from the offset as we have not seen a space epic this big since the last Star Trek movie. That being said this film fails to produce the imagination and story-telling standards that both Star Wars and Star Trek has set. So many plot threads were left dangling in this film, from the tense relationship between Hal Jordan and his brother, to the almost non existent relationship between Hal and the other Corps members. Another mistake this film made was it did not give you the pay off that they had been promoting. Yes they showed you the Green Lantern world of Oa, and yes you got to see thousands of aliens on screen. But what we did not get to see were those thousands of  Corps members fighting. Another major problem this movie had was its villains. The first villain Hector Hammond was almost comical, you just would not believe that he was a big enough threat. As for Parrallax the big bad villain of the movie there was some sense of danger, but that was all taken away when all it took was one Green Lantern to finish him off. Now there were many reasons why this movie failed and in my opinion there were more than what had it succeed. But this film all in all definitely had it`s moments. When it was announced that Ryan Reynolds was set to play the lead off this film I have to admit I started questioning its before I even saw any screen shots, trailer, or anything. But as it was Ryan Reynolds performance was one of the positives in this film. In my opinion he brought some life to a movie that was almost dull, and he also had great chemistry with his on screen partner Blake Lively. Another highlight was Mark Strong`s character Sinestro the film set him up well to be the Lantern who would do anything to succeed, but as it was there was all too little of him. Instead of the great warrior and leader the comics portray him to be the movie just has him giving motivational speeches. Good speeches but all about a threat that they were not going to face anyway. The CGI in this film had its moments, the Green Lantern costume looked good on one hand but the constructs the ring produced were clunky at best, and I would normally not promote 3-D but in this films case I`d say 3-D helped more than it hindered. Now all that being said did I enjoy the movie yes I sort of did. It definitely is no Dark Knight when it comes to comic book movies, and it`s way closer to being like Iron Man 2 than the original Iron Man but the movie was still good enough for me wanting a sequel. In my opinion most people ages 16 and above should go in to this film just wanting to have fun as this movie almost has no depth in quality to it. But I do believe that most children ages 6-15 will absolutely eat this film up. Now to conclude this movie is a failure is would be wrong of me, as the whole point of a movie is to give people a form of escapism and in that Green Lantern succeeded. But to say that Green Lantern is the success that Warner Bros. and DC Comics wanted it to be would be a lie. Now all in all I would give the movie a 6/10 as it left me wanting more, more fighting, more character moments and more payoffs. But I would still say go out and watch it, if you have a kid they would definitely enjoy it, and if they do make a sequel I would probably watch it. That being said "probably" is not "definitely".

Themes, Social and Moral Questions and what really makes a good story

The simple question is: What makes a great story? Now as I try to answer this question, I would like to point out this is my opinion and it should not be taken as me trying to say I am right and any other opinion is wrong. Now if you end up agreeing with me then, great minds think alike. So what does make a great story? Now first thing is first if I would like to point out something as fact its that: Not everything we like, not everything that makes us laugh, not everything entertaining, and awesome is "a great story". Because lets face it if that were the case Quentin Tarantino would have won an Oscar, Kick-Ass would have made millions in the box office, and as is the case with millions of die hard fans, Twilight would be the new bible. For me what makes something a great story is the questions it makes you ask yourself after reading or watching it. Yes it should have interesting characters, an intriguing plot, and good writing or in tv/movie cases good film making, but mainly it should have and underlying theme to its main plot. Now let me use my favorite director`s (Chris Nolan) two most popular films to date: The Dark Knight and Inception. Lets start with TDK now this movie  does a lot of things well, in particular how it fleshes out famous characters for a new generation of viewers. Now first and foremost it is a Batman story. Second I will not argue with people who say that the best scenes in this movie happen when both Batman and Joker are both present or even just when the Joker appears. But finally if you look at the main story arc of that whole movie, a movie with brilliant acting, a brilliant story, and brilliant film making, the main arc was that of Harvey Dent. A man who in the beginning was the so called "white knight", the man who could take corruption down. Who would not take it down by dressing up as a bat and beating people up, but by using the law. But in the end was corrupted by a madman, and how the best, brightest, and most optimistic of people can fall. It makes you question yourself. What you would do if you were that character? Would you rise above it? Or would you be swayed by corruption after everything you have fought for has apparently been taken away from you? Now lets talk about Inception. In many ways it is similar to any great movie, great acting, great plot, great film making. But lets be honest, who did not come out of that movie with questions of reality? Who did not at one point after or during that movie come out questioning the very fabric of our reality and the world we live in? Questions of is this a dream? Or if this is a dream then where are we, really? Kept popping up. And it also managed to throw another question about your moral character. If you were really paying attention to the story by the time this particular plot thread appeared and had not been distracted by the other ideas and concepts put out by this movie then you would have noticed one of the biggest questions this movie puts on to its viewers. What would you do, if you knew you were living in a dream, and were completely in control of it? Would you stay in your own little "perfect" world or would you come back to a world of "imperfection"? Even the way it was presented in this film when Leo DiCaprio`s character placed an idea in his wife`s head that they needed to go back to the real world tells you a little about yourself. If you agree with what he was doing then you live with the results, which in this case was his wife`s death. But if you do not agree with what he did, then would you rather stay in a dream world where nothing is "real"? These type of questions are what make great stories, at least from my point of view. Questions that make you look at your beliefs and your morals. Now don`t get me wrong I will always love watching and reading mind numbing stories that are stupid, pointless and fun, but it doesn`t mean those things are great. So yeah there you go all that is what I think makes a story great. And while we will always have movies/books like Harry Potter, Star Wars, or Narnia where we end up wishing with all our youthful exuberance that we lived in those worlds, we will also have movies/books like Inception, No Country for Old Men, and Catcher in the Rye which make us ask questions about are morals, are individual growth , and most importantly our own beliefs, which all form the basis of our own character, and our own story.

It Feels Like Making Up for Old Times, With a Old Friend Turned Enemy

The title of this blog sums up some of the feelings I felt while reading this book/comic/graphic novel quite clearly. And yes the Gerard Way who wrote this is indeed the lead singer of My Chemical Romance (yet you would not think that while reading this comic). Now lets go back a couple years ago to when I was in seventh grade. My Chemical Romance (or MCR as I will now call them, as I don`t want to type their name every time I want to say it) just released their single Helena and I absolutely loved it!!! MCR`s music was something I would listen too constantly for the next year or so, whether the songs be from their albums: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge or from I Brought You My Bullets, You Bring Me Your Love, I would absolutely eat their music up. then 2006 happened and they debuted their third album: The Black Parade and I absolutely hated it... Okay hate is a strong word so I absolutely disliked it!!!! And the brunt of my displeasure went straight to Gerard Way on the basis that he was the man who conceptualized the bands new direction publicly and musically. That was when I lost respect for a man who`s music I loved for a brief moment in my life. Now lets fast forward to a couple weeks ago, recently I have started reading comic books/graphic novels. It has been a little over a year since I jumped over the deep edge and started reading a whole lot of super hero comics and the more dark/grim indie comic books. I would try almost anything and the moment I`d like something I would follow these books until they ended or in super hero comic`s case until the writer who is writing the current run on the book leaves. So as I searched for new comics I stumbled upon an award winning comic called the Umbrella Academy. At first I was very very skeptical about it as it is written by that very same Gerard Way whose style completely ruined MCR for me. And that being said comics are all about unique story telling techniques and styles that capture and enthrall people I was afraid to pay for a book that I thought was going to be Black Parade in comic form. Well after a couple months of pondering whether or not to buy the 1st trade paperback and my comic book store going on sale to the point I could get both vol.1 and vol. 2 for the price of one, I finally decided to take a risk on the book and buy it, and let me tell you what I found inside it was something I would have never expected. It is a book whose storytelling and visual style are so unique I was literally smiling from the very 1st page to the very last. The last time I had this much fun with any form of entertainment was when I first watched Kick-Ass over the summer, and that is saying something. The characters in this book are all likable, weird and it is obvious Gerard Way has fun writing the characters. I mean if you have the leader of the team be a really strong guy with a body of a gorilla named Spaceboy, and have another member dressed up in goth attire pale skin and all and name him Seance you know you are going to have fun with the book.The story for volume.1 is simple enough 'have an estranged family save the world" has been done millions of times, but never in my life have I had as much fun with that story as I did while reading Umbrella academy. While vol.2`s story is more complicated with time travel and t.v. addiction, it still managed to give me everything I loved about vol.1 and more.

You give me two characters named Hazel and Cha-Cha jacked up with sugar wearing cute cartoon character masks, and make them complete psychopaths, yeah you are winning me over.


All in all I really can`t put into words how much I loved this book, the characters in it, and the stories being told. Umbrella Academy is in no way a deep story, it will never be the greatest piece of fiction you can buy, but it might just be one of the most fun and funny pieces of fiction you will ever read. The story never takes itself seriously and in some occasions blatantly makes fun of itself. And as for the art? I can`t start with how much I love it and how perfect it is for this kind of story. Now I could go on about how good the art is or how fun the story is or how much imagination both writer and artist must have to deliver something like this , and I probably will go o and on for a very long time. So I will end by saying that: if you are a fan of exaggerated violence, colourful characters, and blatantly slapstick humour then you should buy this book. It is well worth the cost, as you will find yourself coming back for multiple reads all while wishing Gerard Way would quit his day job and become a writer full time.

Control

Power. It is one of the most sought after things in this world. Power in strength, in relationships, in wealth, and power in mostly any facet of life. Now while it actually is possible to have power in some, most, and in rare cases all of those things, I wont be talking about that kind of power. I`ll be talking about a power that well we only get to see in pages of comic books and/or some fiction novels, and that`s the power of control, or mind control. I know, I know it is a pretty kiddy thing to be talking about, but I`m not going to be talking about how awesome it would be to have the ability to control people, rather how something like that could potentially have you lose (pardon the pun) control of yourself. Okay to start I do realize how potentially awesome it would be to be able to control people. The realization that everything you could want is potentially just a thought away. And in most cases (certainly mine) people would probably start of by getting the material things that they would want. I mean the thought would come to mind that if you are given this ability then it would be a waste not to use it. And again if you ask most people what they would do with this power I`m sure they would say: I`m going to get a car, or a nice apartment, or a huge mansion, or any other material want, then they might say I would use this power to make the world a better place, stop wars, fix the economy, fix the environment, etc. So lets say you do all that, here is one question: would you let people know it was you who changed the world? Now hear me out if you do let people know about what you have done then they would realize what you are capable of doing, and all of a sudden everyone starts questioning what else have you done? How did you get your Ferrari, or your apartment in Times Square, or anything else you have gotten. Then you would most likely make people forget about what you can do, so what would be the point of letting people know in the first place? So lets say okay you are done getting every thing you have ever wanted, the cars, the house, the fame, so now I ask what`s next? Now you take a look at your relationships, relationships with the people who are important in your life, your family and your friends. Now we have all been at that point when one of these people will hurt you and you have no idea why they did. So now you have the ability to make them explain themselves or better yet have them do something to make it up to you, so here is another question: would you be satisfied with their explanation or their actions, knowing that they tried making it up to you is because of your power? And if you do decide to use your power in that way whats to stop you from fabricating relationships? Making people like you, love you, obsessed with you, out of want, spite, or just because you can. I mean you could do absolutely anything, so here is a thought and a scary one at that, what if you lost control? All of a sudden you have no control of your powers. Whether through stress, or any other possible reason you have no say in what your powers are doing. To the point that just a though, without the intention of even wanting your powers to act upon that thought and you have used your powers. For example you are angry at a friend or a family member and in that argument you just say, or think the words I wish you were dead, then they go ahead and kill themselves. I mean it was never an intention of yours but still it is because of your power that it happened. Which leads me to my final question: Why would people want power at all? And not only the kind of power I have been talking about but any form of it? We all have heard the saying "power corrupts", that is a guaranty, you give power to anybody in the world and at least 99.9% of us would abuse it no matter how small or big our abuse was it is still abusing power. So there it is I have said my piece, I am certain I have made at least some points. So now be honest with yourselves, if you were given the power of control, do you really think it won`t corrupt you?

People, Stories and the Ones Worth Keeping

Have you ever sat down and bothered to take a look around you? I`m sure you have, so let me change that question: have you ever sat down and bother to actually notice the way people act around you? See the looks on their faces? The differences in the tone of there voices when they talk about something of interest compared to something they are not so interested in? I try to take notice of these things. I find that you`ll learn way more about a person through just watching how they act, or the manner in which they speak. In no way am I trying to be rude or anything in saying this but I find it that we (people) are just like any story you would see in the theaters or read in books, with some much harder to fully understand then others. In some cases people are easy reads, like take for example people who just do things for the sake of being cool, tell me that is not like some corny action flick you haven`t seen a million times over. Then in other cases people are much harder to read, in most cases these people are either out of touch with society and/or are very guarded, yet they have that mystique about them which make you believe that there is something interesting about these people . Now haven`t we all seen the movies or read the stories of the person no one really knew getting big and famous after years? I guess what I`m trying to get at here is that in our own way we are playing out are own story in life. A story which may not be great or outstanding but a story that until we finally leave this earth will always have the potential to be great, even if only taken in bits and pieces. And just like the only people who can truly appreciate a story are those people who care about all the plots even the are dull and boring ones, just like in life the only people worth keeping are the people who will be there even for the dull and boring moments. Now watch the people around you? Do they listen to you? Do they seen the least bit interested in what you do or what you have to say? Now ask your self , will they actually be there for me when I need them? Do they care enough about the way your life story is going? If not then well it`s your life and you decide what to do.