1. How can one get around the city with ease when there?s a parade or protest going on and the sidewalks are congested? Easy? just become part of it.
2. The last thing I expected to do this morning was to carry a coffin down Broadway.
So the Republicans are in finally in town. It?s something that native New Yorkers have long been waiting and dreading. Let me just state, right off the back, that I?m a pretty liberal guy when comes to most things, including politics. I follow the nation?s state of affairs quite a bit, more so that I let on to most folks. But unlike most things that I?m even moderately opinionated about, I rarely talk about politics, at least at a very serious level. Why? Because it?s up there with abortion; I have my opinions, and no matter how well I state my case, I doubt I?ll ever be able to change the minds of others, and vice versa.
I won?t bore you with drawn out explanation as to why I believe the things I do, so I?ll simply state that it?s been life experiences which has shaped my political reasoning, as it does for most people, or so I would think. And since politics is such a ?personal? thing to me (and others), that?s why I?m not so eager to put it on the table for debate, since above all else, it would be totally fruitless.
BUT, since each person?s life is unique, so should be their politics, or at least that?s what I thought. Hence why I?m so perplexed that people allow themselves to be easily identified by a single political party.
If I had to choose one, I guess I?m a Democrat. But the thing is, I don?t have a problem with the ideals that most Republicans believe in, it?s just that most Republicans are self righteous jack asses who hide behind morals and money to justify their reasoning. But at the same time, Democrats are a bunch of whiney, vegan hippies, who also seem to have a very distorted view of reality. Hence why I can?t comfortable align myself with them. I guess it?s because I share so much with the Democratic platform is why I find more annoying than Republicans.
Its like members of both parties are walking, talking stereotypes, and they don?t seem to mind it one single bit. Case in point, all over the local news there?s footage of the delegates that have just arrived, and I can?t help but curl my lip watching a bunch of old, out of touch, and extremely rich white people enjoying the city, like going to Broadway shows, but only the ones which the RNC have approved, such as shows which don?t have any gay people in them.
But how are many liberal minded Democrats showing their defiance? Well I know there?s some of sort of ?alternative? convention that?s going on right now that?s spreading it?s message via dance and poetry. So on one hand we have stuffy old men getting together to figure out how else to disenfranchise the poor and makes themselves even more powerful, and on the other we have a bunch of hippies holding hands and singing Kum-Ba-Ya. Just great.
Hence why I haven?t exactly been at the forefront with all the activities to help spread awareness regarding the atrocities and idiocies that Bush perpetrates on a daily basis. First off, out President is doing a fine enough job letting the whole world know he?s an idiot, there?s no real need to point things out. But more seriously, it?s the messengers who partly at fault for the truth falling on deaf ears. The whole anti-Bush movement has become such a scene. Once again, for every person who thinks they?re so cool for wear an anti-Bush shirt, I have to ask them one single question: ?Are you registered to vote?? You?d be surprised by the number of reluctant ?no?s that I get. And what really pisses me off is that these same people didn?t even vote last time and they still have the gall to accuse me for being the reason why Bush is in office since I voted for Nader.
After all is said and done, I?m still very much proud that I voted for Nader, and would have done it again if it was 2000 all over again. First off, Bush won because of the shenanigans in Florida, but most importantly, it should have never been that close in the first place. Gore was a pathetic candidate who was Vice President under, not only one of the best and most popular Presidents ever, but who?s tenure was during a time when the economy was golden, and he was stupid enough to distance himself from the man? Cause he didn?t want to be associated with the Clinton?s personal behavior? Didn?t he realize that most people didn?t give a shit about that stuff anyhow?
Anyway, back to Democrats making asses of themselves, it really is a problem since they?re simply acting the way Republicans expect them to. On Thursday, a bunch of protestors got in the middle of the street and halted traffic by getting totally naked to raise AIDS awareness or something. I totally believe in the cause, but their method to get the message across is far too comical in my eyes for such a serious matter (as well as played out). And on Friday night, Critical Condition did another massive bike run to? get this?. raise awareness for the environment.
Now first off, I?m a diehard believer in protecting our planet (I defended the move to protect spotted owls when growing up in Washington and it made me a very hated person at school since many people had friends and families in the logging communities that were directly affected, so I don?t want any accusations that I?m simply giving lip service here) and secondly, it makes total sense that bike cyclists would embody such a noble message. After all, I too am sickened by this nation?s over reliance with motor vehicles, especially with everyone loving their fuel inefficient SUVs; (hell, it?s party why we?re in Iraq in the first place). But once again, it?s one that getting totally messed up by the messengers. Anyone who lives in New York will know that most members of the city?s bike community are total dicks. They?re just a bunch of well to do hip kids from Brooklyn who tear around the city running into almost everybody, and they expect you to get out of their way no matter what. And it?s pointless telling them off since they can?t hear anything, cuz they?re all listening to their 40 gig iPods.
I fail to see how any of their self absorbed antics is supposed to do any good, especially when it gets on the nerves of the people who reside in the city, especially since most prefer the RNC not being in town in the first place. And it?s pretty laughable when they to equate themselves with the United For Peace and Justice group since they at least have a clear cut agenda and went through the trouble of getting organized and letting the city know of their intentions. They can?t be accused for disrupting the peace and screwing up emergency response, but Critical Condition very much can, and should, be held accountable.
If Democrats and liberals and Bush haters alike want to get their message across, they need to get their shit together. Acting like a bunch of angry children only validates the right wing conservative?s poor view of them. A main reason why the Republicans have so much power is they?re simply better organized. Though there are a few that are doing a good job of spreading the word around, such as United For Peace and Justice.
Speaking off, their much-talked rally finally took place today, and even though I had flirted with the idea of taking part, I do so, though accidentally. I had plans with certain folks, but they were never finalized, plus I slept in till three. So the new plan for the day was to finally see Napoleon Dynamite. But along the way (well between subway transfers) I figured I?d check out the protest, so I hopped off the 9 train at Penn Station. I knew from NY1 that the march was circling around midtown, with MSG and Union Square as the main points, so I thought I could simply walk along 34th street to catch the 6 uptown where my friend Russ is the manager of a movie theater. He?s constantly invited me to catch a flick on him, but his theater never has a great selection, but at least for now, there?s one worth catching.
But since it was taking forever work through the people checking out the protest, I figured I might as well be a part of it since it had far speedier foot traffic. In less than five minutes, I unexpectedly saw a friend and joined her. And next thing you know, I?m helping to carry a coffin with an American flag draped over it. We ended up marching down Broadway where I caught sight of Dave and Raina who also decided to join the march as a spur of the moment thing. Once at Union Square, us three broke off and hopped on the W; they went home and I went to see the flick. It was very good, by the way (I?ll go into it in my big summer movie post which I?ve been planning to do for ages).
Anyhow, the whole march went off quite well I?d like to think and I feel it got its point across. And thankfully, none of the fringe groups took away the spotlight, though they were there. Pagans Against Bush wasn?t too bad, at least compared to others that I simply couldn?t ?get?. Most tried too hard to be cute and I couldn?t understand what their spiel was. Others were just plain annoying; you know you?re not doing something right when you hate Bush and others who feel the same just want you to get the fuck away. And most importantly, everything was nice and calm and there was no violence.
Lastly, there weren?t as many hot chicks as I was expecting. Hmm.
________________________________________________________________________________
As for the rest of the weekend, it was again low key like last week?s. On Friday night, Joe kicked off the inaugural edition of ?Monster Night? in which a us and a few friends gather to watch cheesy horror flicks. Things got off to a great start when Joe got piss drunk super early and acted beyond crazy, into surreal territory. And the films themselves were atrocious; most took forever for a single person to get killed, and there was never any blood or gore, let alone any T&A.
Saturday was spent dedicated to watching the first two seasons of Trailer Park Boys, which I had just successfully downloaded (though, as stated before, I do intend on getting the DVDs? hey I do support the artists I appreciate). It?s quickly become my favorite comedy series at the moment. It?s actually a lot like a Brit-com, with excellent character development and a large overall narrative that each episode carries along throughout the season (sorta like the Office for example). That and it?s actually really good and blows away the drivel we get here in America. If it ever gets on Comedy Central, it has a good chance at being the next big thing.
I also spend the whole evening playing emulated NES games. Things got kicked off after checking out a post on the Gaming Age Forum regarding weird and obscure Famicom?NES titles. One game which was mentioned was Bird Week which I had never heard of before (which not to brag, but is saying a lot) and after reading a ?comprehensive review? I knew I just had to try it out. I enjoyed it and though it was actually fun, though I?m a sucker for any game which has you control tiny birds, so perhaps my opinion many not mean much (hence why I laughed in the face of common sense and got a 32X two summers ago to enjoy Kolibir, and enjoy it I did).
After that I realized that I have over 8,000 Famicom/NES games that have been largely ignored, so I started playing stuff Russian Roulette style. Perhaps the most interesting title I discovered was a Star Wars game from Namco. The rule of thumb regarding Star Wars video games is that 95% of them suck and this was no exception. And it also deviates quite a bit from the source material. In level 1, Luke goes into the Jawa?s sand roller and confronts? Darth Vader?! And after a few hits, he turns into a huge scorpion like creature. Also, like most Star Wars games, it tough as nails and I didn?t go far. Though when you?re in the midst of playing every NES game ever made, you tend to spend 5 seconds on each title.
As for tonight, and again from the GAF, comes word that Rez might see a re-release later this fall. I highly doubt this news, but it it?s true, that would be utterly fantastic. More people need to play this game, and thanks to the heavy word of mouth from message boards across the internet (thanks in small part to myself of course) I?d like to think that it will do quite well this time around (especially if it comes out at just $20 like it?s been speculated).
Also, the box art for the American version of Katarmari Damacy has just been unveiled and it?s exactly like the Japanese box art, which is beyond amazing news. Finally we get a company that actually cares about bringing over a wonderfully, quirky Japanese game the proper way for us Americans. First no changes to the music (once again, thank fucking God!) and now no change to the wonderful cover. Namco is simply awesome these days.
I strongly urge everyone to go out and get this game? in fact, you probably have to go and pre-order the game at your local game shop since more than likely, no one is going to bother to order copies. It?s seriously one of the greatest games to come out in years. Plus it?s again, only $20! After all, it’s the best chance we have of showing game publishers that there’s more to profitability than just stupid Grand Theft Auto clones.
