Reflections: The Crazies

Greetings once again internet. I missed you. Well, not really but I didn’t not miss you. I’m going to flat-out tell you that this post is going to be extremely political. If your into that kinda thing, enjoy. If you’re not, then suck it up. Incase you didn’t know, midterm elections recently concluded and now we can all go back to enjoying our television programs without the terribly produced Ad’s for local representatives that you have probably never heard of but probably should have considering they are, in fact, your representative in the state or to congress. I hope all of you did your civic duty and casted your ballot. For those of you who didn’t, we will talk later. Just know you’re a bad American.

The last 2 major election cycles we have had our share of entertaining folk run for office, and its made for some great watching. I mean you have an Alaskan governor running for VP whose only experience in foreign relations is that she can see Russia from her house. A war hero who looks creepy when he puts his arms up and smiles. A young charismatic African-American man who may or may not be american or muslim or socialist and potentially brainwashed by a crazy preacher. A man who knows when something is a big F**king deal but does not know he should say that when the mic’s are off. A former witch who never really was officially a witch but probably did some strange stuff. A dude who carries around a bright orange baseball bat. A guy who thinks repealing the 15th Amendment is a good idea (it’s not). A woman who thinks Nevada is ready for Prohibition. That is only a few. Two of them are President and Vice President. One is now a congressman. One has a show on Discovery Channel, A daughter on Dancing with the Stars and is probably gonna run for president. I mean let’s be serious here. We seem to be going to the extreme here.

A few of these people are members of this new movement called “The Tea Party”. I know, it sounds fun and classy and I was all ready to go to throw some tea off of ships in Boston Harbor. However, this ‘Tea Party” has nothing to do with those fun tea parties. They are more along the lines of crazy and, not rip your shirt off in Cancun  crazy, im talking straight jacket ‘they are coming to take me away haha’ crazy. I mentioned a few by description but they all have their little quirks.  But they all have one thing in common. They wanna take back our government and give it back to the people. That is a great notion.

However, America already took it back in 2008. I swore that is what the president ran on, right? We were ready for Change, right? I mean Republicans had their time, right? We gave our President all the tools, right? We went liberal across the board. We elected a man who was for socialized medicine and other government programs. We gave him 2 years.

Now, the honeymoon is over and America is going extreme again. We are swinging back to the right. Why are we doing that. It’s not because we think they will do well it’s because we really don’t like the other guy. So for now, ‘crazy’ doesnt matter as long as you’re not already in office. It worked. The house is now Republican. The Senate, almost 50/50. Where does it go from here? Well its going to go nowhere and fast. The Senate wont approve anything the house wants and the president wont be able to get anything through the house. If the rest of the Democrats were smart (I don’t think they are) they would be more open to compromise and at least work to get things done with Republicans. Why? might you ask. They should do this, if not for the people, for self-preservation. Look at how they took the house and Senate. They had a big year in 06. Almost had total control. Then nothing really happened so the people gave Democrats a 60/40 majority in the Senate and a large majority in the house in ’08 as well as the Presidency. They did things, but not enough or the right things in our eyes. The People want and NEED action from their government. We elected Obama because of this promise. He promised Change. We don’t see much of that. Heck, Americans barely see change in their pockets let alone government. Tea Partiers could do the same come 2012. We really don’t need that.

I lean conservative. I think capitalism is decent. I support a restructuring of the tax system in order to create more revenue so that our debt does not become insurmountable. I don’t support the Tea Party. I don’t support the extremely Liberal Democrats.  I feel that government is needed now. Too many people have been hurt and too many more will get hurt if things continue the way they have been. I support responsible growth and responsible change. We don’t need crazy. It’s not party time. We don’t need incumbents.

Here is my proposal. For those of you people who have declared themselves Republican or Democrat Vote in primaries. Don’t let your choice be an incumbent and a crazy witch. Go moderate, go with someone who is dead set on getting something done for the benefit of the people and is willing to work across party lines. We want our country in our hands with people who represent us. We don’t want the asylum to be turned over to lunatics.

Sincerely,

M. Castronova

A Premature Continuation

Hello Internet,

Its been a short while since I last spoke to you. Im sure I already over stayed my welcome but who knows maybe your eager for more. I highly doubt that you are I’m not even ready to be writing more but I am going to anyway. It’s what I do.

So here we are wasting more valuable time to write (in your case read) more nonsense about nothing in-particular. There is a purpose for this. I dont know what it is yet but I can assure you there is in-fact a purpose for my writing to you. A good one or not, there is a purpose. One that is higher than the one stated in my last post. If you havent read it I would suggest that you do but, I am not one for shameless self promotion. For those of you that read it; Thank you, you made my day. I am currently about 157 words into this post and still I havent really found anything significant to write about which is probably my style if I had a style. Maybe this is what the current posting is about, developing a style. Could there have been an actual purpose to not only this post but the previous post of nonsense? Probably not but, I will (for now) believe that there is for the simple sake of it.

So, my ‘style’. As of right now it is mostly just rambling on about nothingness, which is all well and good but still nothing of importance is really being said. I guess you can say I am hoping for a ‘Big Bang’ scenario in which something comes from nothing. It happened before, It can happen again. Maybe you find amusement in this. I certainly find amusement in writing this because its a very self-aware blog. Kinda like HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey but with less homicide.

Oh well. For you, my beautiful readers (you are beautiful at least on the inside), I leave you with these final words. Everyday we define who we are.

Thank you and remember… You did this.

M. Castronova

Failures and Disappointments

Greetings,

It has been a long time. I know I know I didn’t miss you either. Quick FAQ

Where have I gone you might ask? No where.

What have I been doing? Nothing.

Have I done anything since that last crappy blog entry? Nope, just finished school.

Do I have a job? Nah.

Why am I writing this?  I am writing this mainly because ‘Death Spiral’ has come back to life. I am also currently bored and fatigued from my day of doing whatever it might be that I do.

So, after a while of pondering I have decided that this blog is meaningless and no one really cares what I write on here. To put it bluntly this blog is one of my many failures. Im not upset nor angry. I do not blame you loyal reader(s). I understand you have better things to do. In fact, your probably thinking of better things you could be doing with your time right now. Why dont you write those down so when your done wasting your time here with me (of which I thank you for) you can actually accomplish something of minor or major importance. Who can we really point the finger at for this blog not fully blossoming into a brilliantly deadly flower? It’s simple I blame Travis A. Hill. I blame him because its easy to blame him and he wont care if I do blame him, in fact, he blames me for most things anyhow. Why hide the facts here? I blame Travis because he blames me for everything and anything. Is it fair? Probably not. Is it childish? Yes, It really is. Does anyone care? No, I have stated this earlier. In fact I would have hoped you stopped reading when I reminded you that this was a waste of time.

Where does this leave the M. Castronova Blog? Well, I will try to rebuild it to make it finally become THE beacon of free thought and nonsense on the web.  Just remember, You did this.

M. Castronova.

Twilight: A Perspective Part 1

Twilight, it’s the hottest and one of the most lucrative franchises out there. It has captured the attention of young teens nationwide and has so easily burst onto theater screens to capture the box office as well. It is a phenomenon. The overwhelming amount of dedicated, hardcore fans it has is astonishing. But, why is this? Why has the youth of America fallen victim to poor literature?

At the very core of Twilight there is a spark of an interesting idea that was mangled and turned into nothing but a half-hearted erotic fairy tale written by an overweight Mormon woman who thinks Washington State is an interesting place. There is nothing wrong with a Vampire/Human love story. They can be done well. (Ex. True Blood) But when you take the Vampire and turn them into fangless, day-walking, brooding, and worst of all sparkly pansies, it’s no longer a true vampire. What Stephanie Myers has done is bastardize one of the most interesting creatures in all of history to compensate for her lack of creativity. Every single one of the changes made to the traditional vampire lore serves a purpose to the plot and they solely exist in order for this romance between the terribly confused and terribly stupid Bella (I get it) and the all too ‘perfect’ Edward.

Some may call it “originality”, its not. It’s just an excuse. The things that separate humans and vampires would only make a romance more interesting. How do they deal with the restriction of only being able to roam in the dark? How does a young teenage girl feel when the one she falls for is of the living dead, who have a completely different set of natural laws to go by. How do they deal with not being able to see each other very much? It’s these little conflicts that help define character and can only aid in the story. But in Twilight the vampires are all young, attractive, rich, can go out in the day, live forever, and have various other abilities. Tell me, what are the drawbacks to being a vampire in this world? I cannot think of any.

It is another avenue sealed and thus destroying another dimension that could make these characters, dare I say, interesting.

The set up is like this. Vampire guy ‘Edward’ meets high-school girl, who has moved to Washington State to be with her father, on a regular school day. He is attracted to her because she smells really good. You know kinda like how you go into a very good restaurant and smell a juicy steak. Bella would be the steak. In Twilight, Edward’s ‘Hunger’ for her is equivalent to lust (how’s your mind? Blown?). So through out he is fighting his ‘hunger’ (I get it). Its presented, in the films, that Edward is pretty much trying to get to know a steak before he indulges in it. He stalks the steak, watches the steak, and protects the steak. He is the only one who can touch the steak. It’s Edward’s fucking steak, get it?!  Bella is ok with this cause Edward is attractive. I cant see any other reason.

Why does a 100 plus year old Vampire need to go to High School? Oh, cause he was turned when he was 17? Maybe cause he is trying to fit in? Well you would think after about 100 years he would understand that he was a vampire and could do just about anything he wanted to do. Being immortal is not really a bad thing especially if it’s been for only 100 years. You would think he would have moved on from High School at least to college maybe do some grad school. Its not like he would have to take night classes.  I guess broadening horizons is not ‘cool’. Then again a Mormon writes this so, I guess, usual logic does not apply.

In Part 2 more about this phenomenon will be discussed. I will continue on about lapses in logic, how its set women back at least 60 years, how its hurting film, the potential positives and more.

The Avatar Effect

Dear Internet

I have had time to mull, think, and ponder the effects of one film in how far it has reached. I am of course speaking of James Cameron’s AVATAR. Yes, that’s right I am blogging about AVATAR. As so many have done before me I too will try to analyze, not the structure, not the plot, not the characters, but the sheer effect it has had on the way things will be in the future. Mainly in the 3D realm.

Avatar will never be remembered for its plot. I assure you of this however, it has cemented 3D as a solid medium for filmmaking.This is what AVATAR will be remembered for.  There are many who will argue against this saying that 3D is a fad and it will go away. There are those of course who will say that 3D is a bad thing, that it’s a gimmick. I disagree. 3D, yes, was originally a gimmick when it was originally used. Other things were gimmicks too when they started such as Sound and even Color. Now, we can’t really imagine a movie without these elements. Will EVERYTHING be done in 3D? No of course not. 2D cinema is important. It is a different way of telling a story, it is the traditional way. Just as 2D animation will never die nor will 2D cinema. AVATAR has brought the technology past the point of gimmicks and made it add to the film, creating a window into a world and a story. No longer do we have a separation from the characters and the world. We feel like we can walk in to that world in front of us. We feel like we are part of the conversations, and become more involved in what’s going on.

The question is what makes this 3D revolution different from the ones of the past. First things first. The sheer investment made by theaters has been too significant for it to fail. A 3D set up in theaters costs hundreds of thousands of dollars per screen. Secondly, 3D is being used in movies that are guaranteed hits, not just low-budget gimmicky films such as “Jaws 4″ or a slew of horror films. You have Harry Potter being put out in 3D, Spider-man 4 will be shot in 3D. All of Pixar’s upcoming films will be using the third dimension. Thats just to name a few. Judging from the uprising in titles being made in 3D,or converted to 3D, it is a safe estimate that 50-70% of major releases will be released in 3D within the next 5-10 years.

Also, there is a push to make 3D glasses fashionable. RealD, a company that builds and develops 3D projectors and technology, has been working on stylish 3D glasses that one can buy and not only be used in a theater but, double as sunglasses. Of course that is not a huge hit yet, but give it time. Another reason its here to stay is the push for “3D ready” televisions that are to be released in the latter part of this year. Of course these over priced screens wont be an instant hit but in 10 years it will be common place. Also consider that sports are beginning to be shot in 3D. The biggest college games and a few NFL games have been shot using 3D cameras. ESPN and Disney will be launching 3D channels later this year. So not only is 3D presented on the big screen but it will reach into the home. AVATAR has made this possible due to is broad audience and massive success. The technology is now viable, and will be used.

I pose these question to all of you. Why should we fight the future? Why not embrace a more immersive experience?

Thank You,

M.Castronova

The Return

Greetings Internet and all the surfers of said Internet

The infamous M. Castronova is triumphantly returning the blogging world. It seems only fitting that my last visitation to this blog was in the last editing class and my return is in yet another editing class. So my last post has gotten quite an uproar, and still has not been lived down.  Yet I feel the need to continue to express my ideas and feelings through this very blog. What should todays topic be… There is of course Current events. In which I could rant about Hati, The State of the Union, AVATAR, The Golden Globes, The Grammys, Sundance and possibly Tiger Woods. However, I refuse. Its been done to death and feel that it wouldn’t be worth the time of this blog and its 2 or 3 readers.

In all honest I really would like to know something. How important is a lot of the news we read? Does it really affect you if some hollywood star wears a certain ugly-looking dress? I really don’t think so. Is it really important that Bangelina is breaking up or not. Does this change any bodies life minus the parties that are involved. No, It’s stupid and its a fascination that will forever escape me. For most of you women who get upset that Brad Pitt or Rob Pattenson (vomits) is dating someone I have a message to you…… “NEITHER WILL EVER DATE YOU… THEY DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE. STOP BEING INSANE!!” Seriously….  from what I understand some of the best-selling publications focus on rumors and gossip. Which are two terrible things that only hurt people. The fact that we revel in peoples flaws and insecurities is despicable…

Now on to something that has really been bugging me. Obama’s attack on NASA.  I have never been so disgusted with this administration. Seriously, Now we are NOT going to the moon again, not to mention out sourcing Astronauts transportation to the ISS to private corporations. It’s totally absurd and not to mention risky. There have only been 4 tragedies (3 of them fatal) in all of NASA’s 50+ year history.  Thats a pretty good record considering they essentially strap people to a pile of explosive material, jettisoning them into the most deadly environment in existence. So why out source that? Cause its cheaper? In essence you’re putting lives of people into the hands of people whose only interest is making a buck as opposed to, people who are purely interested in exploration as well as the safety required to make that exploration possible. In this humble bloggers opinion this is Obama’s way of destroying EVERYTHING Bush did (Which seems to be his only agenda in office). Bush set goals to go back to the moon and eventually to Mars. All of this is on hold. Some may cite the economy as a good reason to cut back on NASA but I have to disagree, because the gov’t is cutting back on this program you are going to have many brilliant minds stopping work on what could have been the breakthrough that makes our lives better. The discovery that solves energy problems. The breakthrough that starts to make the impossible possible.

I shun Obama and his administration. This is the straw that broke this voters back.

sincerely,

M. Castronova

The Truth About This Blog

This is my blog there are many like it but this one is mine…. Hows it going people in internet land?  Apparently my blog has enjoyed the company of some new folks. They are about as welcome as the Black Plague. Simply, they do not understand what this blog is or at least a few of the posts are. The M. Castronova thing is a joke. I know what the rest of you are thinking. “How can anyone not understand that?”  Well There are people in this world who obviously don’t understand and start attacking. So thus they cannot take a joke or understand one such as the one that I have laid down. Others, if not most who read this blog understand the sheer ludicrousness of some of these posts and thus you are welcome to read. Even now I’m typing in character. Does this make sense to you? Did I lose you already or do I need to spell things out for you even more so. I regret to inform you that I will not sink my self lower and belittle my self or this blog as to baby you.  For those of you that understand the absurdity of this blog I hope you enjoy. For this blog is a place for absurdity  as well as the occasional serious discussions. The difference between the two are very apparent and one should not be confused with the other. The real person who writes on this and the character that has been created for sheer amusement are completely different.

Thank you.

Audacity

Hello everyone. Its been a while. I know you all missed my ramblings as much as I missed spewing my opinion and randomness on the internet. Why haven’t I been keeping up many of you may ask…. There just isn’t enough time in the day or the weeks for that matter….. Time has flown by so fast. I am almost entering the second month of Digital Cinematography, We have a movie in the works which should be nothing short of awesome. We got a fantastic Script, Crew and from what I hear an amazing cast… So as one of the directors You can imagine my excitement…. Relationship wise Im pretty happy… Alyssa has been hanging in there as best she can as I am… June will most definitely be an awesome month for us… Thank God we get some time together!  Also we been together for over a year now… which is also a pretty amazing thing….Having updated you guys on all that lets move along….. 

Over my time away I have seen  3 big summer films this year that are currently out them being ‘Star Trek’ ‘Angels and Demons’ and ‘Terminator: Salvation’.  The biggest surprise of all was Star Trek. The film could not have been better…. It was easily the most fun I have had at the movies in such a long time. The acting, direction, style, and sheer story were all absolutely captivating…  It set up a new wealth of possibilities for the franchise which now has life in it once again… I recommend this film to Trekers and non-trekers alike its just that good and accessible. Angels and Demons on the other hand although a slight improvement over  The Da Vinci Code was lacking in just about every area…. but mainly character and It was just stupid at parts I mean Honestly if your gonna blow up the Vatican just blow up the stinking vatican instead of going through all that stupid branding and such… I mean honestly…. and its a mulletless Tom Hanks… who wants that… I dont…. Moving on…. Terminator: Salvation…. This film was just piss poor. Characters were thin as tissue paper, the story just wound up being silly and…. also…. It should win the prize for the most obvious symbolism in a movie ever. I might as well been drinking because after watching that movie I must have lost at least a few brian cells… Aside from some of the action and trying to spot where Christian Bale decided to go off on his infamous rant… also if your down with seeing a CGI Arnold…. there isnt too many reasons…. to stick around for this one… One more thing…. I swore…. I mean I was dead certain… that the Terminators were destroyed by Molten Metal… I saw it happen… to newer models no less and yet in this movie… It just doesn’t work…. its just stupid…. also.. the highly advanced robots decided to install USB 2.0 ports into some models which is really convenient for when you wanna hack one and ride it…. Again… Ugh….  Terrible… 

Signing off for now 

M. Castronova

How I See It: Conservative Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy!!
I can’t believe it took me this long to realize the complete hypocrisy that is American politics. Pervious to the latest Administration I considered my self a die hard conservative and staunch supporter of the Republican Party. I thought it unfair the amount of scrutiny that Bush Administration was put through. The lack of respect was disturbing and I had the notion that the Right leaning Pundits were of a better nature than the left leaning ones, that they were not chastising the left for having an opinion or a view but for the disrespectful manner in which it was conveyed. I defended people such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hanity, and Glenn Beck. Why? because perceived that they would take a better road had the tables been turned. Through out the campaigns last year there was significant change. Hostility and ‘fear’ took over and the attacks became ruthless… something I expected from one side but not the other.

2008 An American Revolution took place… One party and one set of ideals were thrown out in exchange for something ‘different’. A truly Magnificent exchange of power all too seldom seen in the world today. Barriers were broken and hope and faith were restored in America. Did I agree with what happened did I vote for such a dramatic shift in government. No. I was against it. But its what happened and Its not the end of the world. I personally do not agree with a lot of things that have been going on during the new administration to deal with the current crisis and economic downfall. But I digress. The true test of character is not what happens when you get everything you want Its what happens when you get everything you don’t.

The Conservatives got just that and their character showed true for the first time in a long while. It was not a pretty site and It turned me off to political realm. It did one very important thing for me at my young age. It opened my eyes to the hypocrisy that is Politics. The same things Conservatives complained about and pulled people down for they began to do themselves!! Where is the moral center in that! What happened to ‘Respect the President’ maybe there should have been an Asterisk ‘Respect the President’ *As long as its a Republican….

I have never seen such fear within a group of people. They began preaching Doomsday. THE END OF AMERICAN VALUES….. THE END OF DEMOCRACY…. THE END OF CAPITALISM… and so on… It was hypocritical and I just felt embarrassed to have been associated and to have listened to their talk years prior. While I agree with the basic principles that conservatives believe I do not believe its right to try and undermine a nations decision. If there is something wrong and the people don’t like this direction we will choose a new one. Thats the beauty of this nation. The people can change things even when it seems the same old thing keeps happening. But In 8 years you will see another shift… a shift back to conservative values… but it wont happen unless the hypocrisy stops.

Conservatives need to become the better group and rise above the petty criticisms, the fear mongering and all of this disgustingly negative talk and bring a spirit of hope for something better because right now…. President Obama is what we have…and people are rooting for him… I am rooting for him to do well… our nation needs him to do well…. peoples lively hoods are depending on it.

Thank you,
M. Castronova

Philosophy of the Month

As of last month I have decided to live a themed life and have that theme change each and every month until the day I die…. and or get bored of the whole thing. What are the benefits of such a plan? Well… one you can take up a cause and be an intricate part of it and make progress when in the following month you can just as easily take up the opposite cause and undo all you have done.  Its  simply one of the greatest things ever…

This month “Mike is Going Green” What does this entail…. and why would I or anyone go “Green”  First of all Its April…. Earth Day is this month and flowers are blooming and such. How does one go green.. You can simply pay people to plant trees… Buy carbon credits or go see the new disney movie “Earth”  which is a should prove to be a riveting docu-drama about animals on the this planet called “Earth”.  During the month I plan to paint myself green for one day.  Also to go green I shall be sleeping out doors like the gods of the earth have intended me to. Also to become one with nature I will for the month become a native american…and worship the gods of the fire, water, air and all the elements.  Take up the cause and become native american and become one with nature.

Peace,

M. Castronova