The .45 Caliber
My goal for this blog is to make people aware that it’s not guns that kill people. It’s the idiots who are allowed to have guns that do. When have you ever heard of a gun being charged with murder? Never, but you do see them show up as evidence in murder trials everyday.
A pistol, gun, strap, or piece is merely just melted steel molded into a sleek shape that when pieced together with an aircraft aluminum frame can be combined to form a lethal weapon. The weapon being described in this blog is my Ruger .45. My 45 is about 8 inches long and has a weight of 34 oz. it holds 8 bullets comfortably in its clip but if you know like I know you’ll keep dat extra one in da chamber. When being held you’ll notice the comfort of the nearly indestructible black synthetic polycarbonate grips which reaches out to you just begging you to hold on just a lil while longer.
The rate of violent crimes committed by guns in the United States is increasing. It seems more now than ever that guns are at the forefront. Everyday I wake up and cut on the news I see a report of somebody being shot. I chose to talk about my gun because it is as useless as any gun, unless the owner choose to operate it.
Guns play a major part in media violence and its effect on music. It used to be a time when a violent crime was a person being beaten or robbed, in the new age we live in people are quick to pick up a gun and take the life of another. Gone are the days in which an artist could have a problem with another artist and settle their differences in a battle of words.
This issue of guns burns to my very soul because it was a decade ago when two of the greatest Hip-Hop entertainers ever, were slain. Cause of death gun shot victim. Did the gun take the lives of Tupac Shakur (2-Pac) and Christopher Wallace (Biggie Smalls)? No, it was the idiot operating the gun that robbed the word of such a talented pair.
Close your eyes and think for a second. 2-Pac or Biggie could have been someone you know if you substitute the name. What if that night on Casino Blvd it was lil Corey, or Chris or Shaun or even Ken. All I’m saying is that it could have been one of your loved ones taken and are you gonna look at the gun and say give it 25 to life. Hell naw, your gonna hope they find the individual responsible so he can do the time.
My mission is not to make you like or dislike guns, that’s really up to you. What I do want is for you to open your eyes for a minute. When you see the movies filled with all this violence and a guy shooting up the town, know that the character is the idiot with the gun. When you see a news report about a kid going on a rampage at a school or church again know that is an idiot with the gun. So instead of making up all these gun law regulations after offense like these bottom line is stop letting Idiots get guns.
Filed under: Entertainment, Politics/History/Business/News | Tags: Election 2008, Ron Paul, The New Republic
At first glance, the glossy front cover of The New Republic tells you to expect politics. Blue, red, black, and white all make it look quite patriotic. In a collage layout on the cover are eight pictures of the front-runners of the presidential race. A smiling Mitt Romney is looking content next to an even happier Mike Huckabee. An angry Fred Thompson is raising a finger in the air as if he desperately wants to command attention. Below him is a joyful Hilary Clinton complete with big hair and pearls. Barack Obama has big lips, large ears, and a closed left eye. A white-haired John McCain is saluting with his left hand. Not included on the cover: Ron Paul.
As part of the mass media, magazines play a great part in determining our views presidential candidates. Compared to other politically charged magazines, The New Republic has done many in-depth articles on most, if not all, of the presidential front runners with an intimacy that no other publication has done. Although they’ve only written about a handful of stories on Ron Paul, they’ve caused their share of controversy to his campaign.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Ron Paul is important to me, but his involvement in the campaign will greatly impact the next wave of libertarian politicians. Although it should be obvious that Ron Paul has no chance whatsoever at the presidency, he has started a sort libertarian movement among young voters that are dissatisfied with the direction the country is going in and would much prefer a limited, constitutionalist government. He has paved the way for more grass root movements to emerge with a sense of confidence that they can make a difference.
Although Ron Paul might not seem to be so relatable, chances are anyone can agree with at least one thing he’s said in the past. Young people might agree that the war on drugs in outrageous because the government has no right to tell us what is and is not good for us. Older adults struggling to get by might like his idea that high taxes don’t benefit the common people and, under a Ron Paul administration, will lower taxes and never again raise them. Parents worried about their children’s education would see light in Ron Paul’s idea to take away the government’s control of education and put it in the hands of the parents and the states.
Even if Ron Paul’s ideas seem outlandish compared to other frontrunners that have a real shot at becoming president, his ideas are quite different and some even welcomed in a time when people seem to have lost all faith in their government and country. What other Republican do you hear talking about limited government? His biggest problem might be that he’s not so mainstream friendly. Some of his ideas are not the norm. Most people don’t want their dollars to be replaced with gold coins, to get rid of most government departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security, or to make it legal for everyone to use and sell drugs. They want to play it safe. People would have to take a big risk if they voted for him to be the next president, and in these uncertain times, I just don’t think they’re up for it.
Filed under: Entertainment
I saw the most unusual, yet hottest, although very deadly pair of shoes in the world. Let me tell you, I love heels, pumps of all kinds. But these shoes I saw today made me want to hang up all shoes and just walk bare foot. Italian-English designer, Antonio Berardi, introduced a pair of platform heels with a nonexistent heel. Yes that’s what I said! The heel wasn’t there, not even a trace! Let me tell you, I was born with six inch pumps on, so I can handle any kind of heel, they are not a problem. But these shoes right here, whew! Honey please!
The front of the shoe, which is a sandal, is like any other platform shoe, a little thicker than the rest. The sole of the shoe is thick with a weave pattern. It has a crisscross thing going on around the sides, they meet up in the middle with a thicker strap and then straps around the ankle. The shoe is brown, the color of chocolate. There is a back semi-thick strap that comes up the back of the heel, right above the heel, that would be if one would have been there, at least.
Honey! Listen! I don’t think you dig what I’m saying, I need you to understand that the fashion industry is forever changing and the changes are slap out of this world, its just plain crazy. This shoe may be the flyest thing since the airplane, but its also the deadliest thing since the glock 85. Still, I think it just might be the hottest shoe in the business yet, being that Posh Spice, Gwyneth Paltrow and Uma Thurman, just to name a few, have already went out and copped them a pair already.
To tell you the truth, I can talk about fashion all day, everyday. Shoes are my heart and fashion is my life. I can’t express the magnitude of importance shoes hold in my life. Fashion is my respiratory system, the thought of losing it— Please stop! I can’t breathe just thinking about it!. I believe if the world was to do away with shoes and the rest of anything dealing with, around, beside or even under fashion, I’d be dead, dead as a doorknob.
If no one else doesn’t feel me, I know for a fact that all my fashionistas and jazzy ladies will feel me on these shoes, not because of its style or its maker, but simply because it is a new addition to the immaculate world of shoes. That’s right I said “immaculate”. The concept of this shoe (did I mention that it was an oh so flawless concept) is virtually magnificent and almost truly one of a kind. There’s nothing that comes close, except the Marc Jacobs reverse heels, but that’s another shoe for another day. Today, my fellow divas, I need for you to take this shoe and love it, embrace it, become one with it! It is amazing and new. It’s kind of like an alien, except this alien is a pretty alien, stared at admiringly, and all the fashion lovers run to it, not stared at awkwardly and everyone runs from it.
I think, whether you are in love with the life of the fashion industry or not, you can’t help but to admire this shoe’s skillful design. You might say something like,” What the bad word that man was thinking bout when he made this shoe?!” and “Who in the another bad word he thought was gonna wear it?!” But you will have to end with something like, “But I gotta give it to him, he got down when he designed this shoe, cause its a bad scambooger!”
Filed under: Entertainment
Strike From Afar is my third of the six decks I use regularly. Below is a quick description of the cards and links to pictures of them.
–Lands–
19 Forest
–Creatures—
–Sorceries—
–Instants—
–Enchantments—
–Artifacts—
1 Hankyu
The deck listed above is called ‘Strike From Afar’ because I chose to use the mechanic implemented by Greatbow Doyen being on the field. The mechanic is basically a double strike of damage, one hit piercing the creature and the second hitting the creature’s controller. Hence ‘from afar.’ I really like the deck because it is insanely easy to prepare a well placed finishing assault. Not only does the inclusion of Flying Carpet assure my deck will always have lofty targets for their various flight-hating abilities, but thanks to the different equipment included in the deck it would be very easy to kill several creatures a turn thanks to the death touch (I don’t have to explain that one do I?) ability of Thornweald Archer.
I chose this deck to because it is a rarity among my choice of decks. I rarely like using one color, resorting to using two or even three, especially if I like an idea. However, adding any other color to this deck would make it much slower, and it already has some time consuming cards. This is due to either the high cost of the cards, located in the upper right hand corner, or the time it takes to find the right cards for my deck’s win condition, or the combination that assures I’ll not lose.
Considering my topic is Magic the Gathering I decided to use one of my decks that contained prime examples of both new and old cards. The artifact, Flying Carpet, is from the older Eighth Edition of the core set, while in contrast Greatbow Doyen, the staple and idea of my deck, is from the set that was just recently released. The deck also recognizes the theme of Tribal, or cards of the same type, which comprises most of the Lorwyn block.
For some reason I have always been interested in the fantasy genre, mostly due to my father’s love of Lord of the Rings. When I first played magic my deck was a shamble of randomly traded cards that did not match or mesh too well. It was after getting involved in the game again, this time with the help of Jon from the anime shop where I buy my cards that I began to actually think up ideas I could try. Currently I have sic decks, all with a basic theme and progressively more fluid mechanics built into them through trial and error.
Magic has become a staple in my life, in regards to my wallet not that good a thing, and has helped me make a friend or two I can relate with. Although some of the people I play are little more than aggravating wasps I enjoy thrashing with the full power of my dastardly Merfolk based deck, I still enjoy playing.
The world of Magic is also a great draw; it is not only a solid game but a solid story. Each new set introduces a new part of the whole, bringing things into perspective and raising new questions. A prime example is the first few sets in the game that detailed the battle between the brothers Urza and Mishra and their abilities as artificers. The story goes onto include pirates of a flying airship, a mystical lost weapon, a dark entity made from pure nothing, and a golem that eventually makes his own world made of metal. The elves and goblins, though staples of the game and genre, are merely the beginning once one delves deep enough into the multiverse of magic.
In Magic one is not oneself, they are Planeswalkers. A Planeswalker is a being with the ability to instantly warp from one plane, or planet, to another by their will alone. The premise being that you, as a godlike sorcerer, are travelling and searching for spells from each world and each age of the worlds. The creatures you use are familiars that have agreed toi share their powers with yours. The sorceries and instants are special spells you learned in the wilds of the world. The Artifacts are mystical items that you found as you went.
It’s basically role playing with cards and less dice.
To finalize what I’m saying is very simple: Magic is teh rokzorz.
Filed under: Entertainment
A dream, a simple fantasy, that I,
wish was reality, that this opportunity would come knocking at my door and I’d, re-live this dream once more…. Through Atlanta, Georgia in the black BMW 745, Soothed by the pleasant scent of the car and the harmonious music, I began to become relaxed in my little black sophisticated dress. The black leather seats felt smooth against my back, the carpet was thick and velvety. The feel of my life behind the wheel made me have a sense of control. I placed my foot on the gas pedal and remained calm as the 22 inch wheels glided so smoothly through the city lights, it started at zero mph and accelerated to 90 mph on the highway without any sound or indication of high speed. It was Oh so heavenly! The 745’s physique glowed with such elegance. As I moved to the melody I had so much to be thankful for. When the music stopped…..In a flash, I was all alone, it was just a dream haunting me once again!
If I could make time stand still……….
A dream, a simple fantasy, that I,
wish was reality, that this opportunity would come knocking at my door and I’d, re-live
this dream once more…. The sleek design of the BMW gave this vehicle a sense of style, it definitely complimented my mature attire. It’s amazing how this car provided me with a sense of gratitude, confidence, and morality in so many ways. I felt important and satisfied. Flamboyance and sporty doesn’t fit my style. The classic and distinctive look is what I prefer. The lyrics from the song made me feel more worthy. When the music stopped….. In a flash, I was all alone; it was just a dream haunting me once again! If I could make time stand still I know I live this moment for ever
Can I stay right here, please don’t go I want this dream to stay forever
I really hate fantasizing this
I rather be living this I don’t know what I would do,
If I couldn’t make this dream come true
Over and over and over I wish
That I could live this moment in time
Everyone should have their own inspiration. That particular inspiration will allow you to have your own unique sense of style which can also build confidence! 
Filed under: Entertainment | Tags: anime, Naruto, Sasuke, shonen-ai, yaoi
I want to get rid of some major misconceptions about bl and the people who watch it. They are really just like any other romance anime, except both main characters are male; which makes for some interesting conflicts and situations. I am using the SasuXNaru couple as an example because they are one of my favorites, even if they are only fan-fiction. I hope that after reading this, those people that like to go around bashing these animes will at least leave us that enjoy them alone.
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Some useful terms when reading this are:
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Shonen - Literally translated it means “young boy” but is used in anime to indicate that the anime is about a relationship between males, usually young adults or boys.
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Shonen-ai - Means “boy love” (bl is another name for it), an intimate relationship between two males. Shonen-ai includes anime with barely an intication of two guys liking each other, to ones that have multiple make-out scenes.
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Bi-shonen - Means “pretty boy.” It is used to describe unfairly beautiful boys and men.
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Yaoi - It is the same thing as shonen-ai, except more graphic and generally focused on older, more mature, characters.
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AMV - Anime Music Video.
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Fan service - Usually indicates the showing of female characters underwaer.
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Con - Convention.
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Konoha - The Leaf village. It is the setting of the show.
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Hokage - Konoha village’s leader.
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Jutsu - Very hard to explain, but it is something like a spell, though it is not magic.
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Hentai - Means perverted.
The definitions of shonen-ai and yaoi are somewhat overlapping, and most people cannot agree on which animes are included in which, but I did the best I could.
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Everybody who follows the Naruto series remembers that infamous seen at the beginning. Naruto hops onto the desk in front of Sasuke, intently scrutinizing him. Sasuke stares back. They are glaring daggers at each other. Just then, someone bumps into Naruto. Naruto falls into Sasuke, and they kiss. This kiss started off a whole series of yaoi fan-fiction. Here I have a picture of the exact moment the NaruSasu couple was created.
Starting from the upper left corner, Naruto’s Konoha headband angles down to touch Sasuke’s. Sasuke’s headband is mostly covered by his hair. Where the headbands meet, Sasuke’s silky blue/black hair falls, obscuring the Konoha symbols. Naruto’s bright blond hair is for once laying tamed on his head. His skin is several shades redder than Sasuke’s pale beauty. Their pupils are dilated to pinpricks as they stare in shock at each other, sweat rolling down their faces, eyebrows angled down and shadowed eyes wide. Thin lines run down the tops of their faces in descriptive horror. Their heads are angled in the perfect position for their first kiss, Naruto leaning down and Sasuke looking up. They look rather like they are about to sick up. Light thin lines shine out, like the rays kids draw for their suns, adding impact. The horror of the moment is properly emphasized.
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Naruto history and stuff
Naruto and Sasuke are both boys with a tragic past, but very different personalities. Naruto never knew his parents, and for some complicated reasons is ostracized by the village. He is bad at pretty much everything other than mischief, and failed his exit exam the first time. Even so, he has dreams of becoming “the greatest Hokage”. Sasuke had a very large family, but they were murdered by his older brother a few years before this series started. He is the shows resident emo, with a hunger for revenge. He is very beautiful and the best at everything he tries, including school. Almost all the girls have a crush on him, including Sakura (the girl Naruto likes), but he is not interested in anything besides gaining power to avenge his family.
In the anime, they are reluctant friends that each secretly envy the other. They deny their friendship, except when it really matters, and are always fighting. They are in a class group together with a girl, Sakura, who has a crush on Sasuke, finds Naruto annoying, and is the object of Naruto’s affections and Sasuke’s disinterest. The yaoi fan-fic follows the same general story line, except Naruto and Sasuke are hiding more than a close friendship. They get caught in awkward “positions” and come up with crazy stories to explain why they are, for example, sleeping together in Naruto’s bed… “It was a sleeping jutsu!”
I am going to “narrate” this picture *points up* from a yaoi fan-fic point of view. I will go with the theory that they already have a secret relationship, though they have not gone very far.
Naruto - This is their first kiss, so he is upset because he wanted it to be something special. He also like “uh oh,” because he knows Sasuke did not want anybody to know about their relationship, and he does not want Sasuke to blame him. The room is full of people, including Sakura (who he is “pretending” to like), so there is a very good chance that people will figure out what is going on. He is feeling kind of sick at the thought of the consequences of people finding out (people think that gays are hentai).
Sasuke – He is panicking because people seeing him kiss Naruto would completely ruin his loner image. He is also upset because he knew Naruto wanted to wait. Plus he is worried how all the girl will react when they realize the relationship, and what that means about their chances of getting a date with him. He does not really care is people think he is hentai, but he is really mad at the person that bumped into Naruto and is probably thinking something dark and threatening that includes bodily harm towards that person. Not to mention, HE was suppose to steal Naruto’s first kiss, NOT the other way around.
I wanted to write about this picture because it is the begining of something beautiful. They are a very popular yaoi couple, and one of my favorites. Their coupling follows the pattern of their friendhsip, denial of liking but inability to ignore each other. In the fan-fic world there is a running joke about denying the relationship. When caught together by the “press” at cons they will either run or adamantly deny having any intimate relationship, though Naruto is sometimes slow on the uptake.
The NaruXSasu couple is just an example of a yaoi couple though, there is also RitsukaXSobi, KilluaXGon, ShuichiXYki, and many more. Some, like NaruSasu, are fan-fic, while others come from animes. I like the stories that go along with yaoi and shonen-ai, and the style of drawing in them is right up my alley. I love the fan-art made of yaoi couples, and like to watch AMV’s about them. __________________________________________________
Some GuyXGuy history
Yaoi is a genre of shonen. There is plain shonen, shonen-ai, yaoi, but they all focus on male relationships. Shonen is one subject of anime. There are several others, mecha, shojo, ext. The shonen-ai and yaoi animes were originally intended for a female audience. I found the history of yaoi very interesting. The creators of anime found that not very many females were interested in anime, so they set out to create something females would be interested in. Romance was the obvious choice. They already had a lot of romance animes, but to attract the male audience to those they had included fan-service. Realizing that the female audience was not interested in looking at other females (for the most part), they decided that what the females would really like to look at is pretty guys. So, put two bi-shonen together in a romance anime, exclude females, and what do you get? Shonen-ai and yaoi.
Bl story lines will generally follow a predictable pattern, much like other genre’s. They meet, they fight, become friends, then kiss. Then comes the trials of love and overcoming obstacles. One of the obstacles that is always present in bl is “but we are both guys!” expressed by one of the main characters. The other main character is perfectly secure and has no trouble with the idea that is does not matter what gender you are, the purpose of a relationship is to make each other happy, and that is all that matters. Many times there is also family pushing the men to get married (to females) and produce heirs, or a girl that is very attracted to one of the men and very pushy in her suit. They generally try to hide the relationship (never successfully) to avoid prejudice and ostracization, and there is also the on-again-off-again thing going throughout the anime.
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An Irritated Fan
The urge to watch yaoi and shonen-ai anime is not, like so many people seem to think, born from some perverted desire to ogle gay porn. People watch it for many different reasons. I watch it because they have good humor and I like the style of drawing. Other people may watch it to flaunt convention, or because they are gay themselves and relate to it better than they do to ”straight” anime. I am not saying that no one watches it for more hentai reasons, just not most. Also, there are even more “straight” hentai anime than there are “gay” ones.
I would also like to point out that watching “gay” anime does not make you gay, and not everybody that watches it is gay, just as watching “straight” anime does not make you straight, and not everybody that watches it is straight. I know many people that “cross-watch” anime. So, leaving comments on shonen-ai and yaoi sites saying that everybody there is a gay hentai makes absolutely no sense, and just makes that person look like a moron.
This is very important to me because I am exceedingly tired of having to put pleas on all my web pages that include shonen-ai and yaoi just to forestall nasty comments, though I do not mind putting warnings that the page contains yaoi and such. I do not leave nasty comments about stuff I don’t like on your page, so don’t leave them on mine.
