Checking in

Wow! It's been forever since I've written the blog. It's now 2017. Trump is in charge and all is right with the world. My holidays were a lot less catastrophic than I thought, and so far--thank God--my wife is cancer free. She's also thyroid free and now has a 'per-existing condition' as far as insurance is concerned 😢 but things could have been so much worse. I continue to pray for all of our good health in the years ahead.

Anyhow, one of the reasons I haven't written much here is that I'm knee deep in a 7th Sea roll20 campaign, and I write out a lot of my dialogue and scenes ahead of time because I'm playing with text only. Also, drum roll......I'm finally a semi-professional writer. I am a regular PAID blogger/contributor at an education website that specializes in recruiting overseas teachers. Once I actually find out what the website is, I'll give a link. How am I supposed to know? I write the thing...money shows up in my paypal...I sign over all rights...who cares how to access the website? I get paid to tell a cat and mouse what to do. If I get 100,000 articles published, I could be a millionaire...but I'm not a maths guy, I'm an English guy.

I haven't seen any good movies lately. I'm still having backlash against the celebs because of all of the politics. I haven't done so well on my extreme body makeover...although I continue to exercise regularly. It looks like I'll be spending an 8th year teaching in Abu Dhabi, our window for resignation closes tomorrow, after being open for a total of two weeks--and I haven't resigned yet. I need to catch up on watching Black Sails, the new season just started and I'm behind. 24 is also back in business. The little bit I caught of it was really good.

And that's about all the update that I have. I'll try making entries more often if there is ever anything worth writing about.   

Christmas 2016--the winter of my discontent...or one of them anyway.

Oh, I'm still happier than average living in the afterglow of the US elections last month. All the liberal tears and whiny protests, recounts and adulation of diaper pins truly warmed my heart, opened a floodgate of hilarious memes, and in general bolstered mood with the feeling of Christmas coming early for once...but now some weeks later 'real' Christmas is very near and it has brought the hard time blues with it.

More personal info for my 10+ readers. I live and work as an English teacher in the United Arab Emirates. I'm now 1/3 through my 7th year--don't know when I broke the mirror in 2010, but nevertheless here I am. One year prior to this I had the same job with less pay out in Taiwan. Yes, I managed to avoid--save for vacation time--the entirety of the Obama Error. Well, neither of these nations REALLY celebrate Christmas. I'm just lucky that our end of trimester 1 break happens to fall at Christmas time. This causes me to miss a lot of the celebrations that I love back at home--the two weeks we get for break time just can't justify the cost--physically and financially--involved in making the trip out. I've been able to visit Belgium, Romania, Germany, France and the Philippines during these winter breaks--some being closer to Christmases like the ones I used to know than others, and all being fun in their own ways, but as the song says, there's no place like home for the holidays. ...and now I'll never be able to go back there.

I can--and most likely will--physically return to the U.S. and to my home state of Georgia eventually. Hopefully, I'll be there for many Christmas seasons to come, but it will never be the same. You see my Dad passed away back on December 12, 2010. Because I didn't get to visit during my year in Taiwan, this will be my eighth Christmas without him. It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade now...and this time of year still hasn't gotten any easier. My Mom is still alive and in good health living in and taking care of the house that my wife and I are buying, but it seems that I can't get out there at Christmas time to see her no matter how much I plan. This year there's been another bump in the road...and right at the same time of year no less.

This past summer, my wife--who has always had thyroid trouble--was fortunate enough to catch a cancerous growth during one of her routine check-ups. Long story short, she had to have a complete thyroidectomy. The operation was a success, but the standard follow-up is for the patient to take a radioactive isotope to wipe out any of the cells that may have been missed. We went through a series of planning/appointments/lab tests/diets over the past couple of months meandering along until--who could have guessed--December 12th. On that day--four days from now as I'm writing--she will swallow this isotope and for all intents be emitting radiation for about three weeks. That means no Christmas with the wife--and it means having yet another staycation in the non-Christmas celebrating UAE. :(

So, as we enter our last weekend together before she goes nuclear, the wife and I will have a lot of arrangements to make when it comes to my daughter. Yes, it will be three weeks wherein DaDa has to be the primary caregiver for his 2-year old. I'm sure it's going to be wild as I am the very definition of the stereotypical bumbling father. I hope she has a good Christmastime with me even if her mother and her grandma can't. It also--maybe for the first time--dawns on me that I'm the Dad now. My wife and I will be making memories for the little girl, and one day she'll be missing me the way that I miss my own Dad.

So, for my 10+ readers, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I know that it's a cliche, but be sure to tell the ones you love that you do love them while they're here. Once they're gone it'll be a long time before you get the chance to do so again.   <3  

It Happened and I Couldn't Be Happier

A little stream of consciousness for this post, but I am so glad that Trump managed to defy the odds and become President elect. He could turn out to be the absolute worst president that we've ever had, but I think he deserves a shot far more than the rattlesnake Hillary. Of course as my other posts indicate, I'll always vote for the side that is prolife. If Trump's presidency results in one baby's life being saved from the abortion mills, then he'll be a far better leader than any baby killer we've had in office.

I'll throw my 2 cents in to tell you a few of my theories as to why Hillary lost.

1. Like Obama, Trump had tons of fans who liked him to go along with the detractors that hated him. Hillary, for her part attracted tons of hate, but didn't muster up too many fans. McCain and Romney couldn't muster up much support either. The former was too much like 'W' and people just couldn't take another four more years of that, and the latter was Mormon. For better or worse real people can't back a 'weird' religion like Mormonism. That's how the cookie crumbled for crooked Clinton, real people--leftists who are legitimately my friends--didn't like her a bit. They just thought she'd be better than Trump. A lesson to both mainstream parties is that you should elect a candidate that people will rally behind, not some empty suit who is 'destined'  to be the president. Real people won't buy it.

2. In this three-ring circus of an election cycle one of the biggest gaffes may have come from Obama himself. In a recent interview he all but flat out called for non-citizens to vote. This is your sitting president winking at illegal aliens/undocumented residents telling them to hit the polls and they won't be reported or prosecuted. This really put a lot of people who were previously undecided on the war path. Voting is the right of the CITIZEN of our country. People can't cross the boarder illegally and expect to have any right beyond the right to remain silent...and technically, I'm not so sure a boarder jumper even qualifies for the Miranda Rights when it comes down to it.

3. We don't like cheaters and she was just way too dirty. Sanders may well have been a creation of the DNC and never meant to be taken as a serious contender to the presidency, but whether or not he was always a wolf in sheep's clothing, a lot of young voters got behind him. Personally, I believe that he was always a talebearer at best and a shyster at worst, but the wikileaks proved that Hillary cheated to win the nomination. Why would anyone in the DNC--and for that matter the RNC--want to sabotage a candidate that may win the White House? At the end of the day it is a popularity contest after all.

4. She's a woman. A bitter...shrill...cantankerous...old...woman. For better or worse the US isn't quite ready for a female president yet. If we ever do get one she's going to have to be cute like that Judge Jeanine Pirro or Condoleeza Rice or else be a plucky spitfire like Judge Judy or Carly Fiorina. We don't like or want a witch. You know Oprah could probably run and do some real damage. I'm not even kidding. She's more approachable, has tons of charisma and she's not stupid. One of these days she might follow Trump's lead. 

So that's it. I'm celebrating the sound of thousands of liberal heads exploding. I hope you are as happy as I am in this moment.

Scary October Stories--

It's been a while since I've posted. I don't have much discipline when I'm not talking about role playing games I guess.

Halloween Movies:
I didn't write as much as I had planned...in fact aside from talking about the Nightmare on Elm St. series back at the end of September, I haven't reviewed any horror at all. Maybe next year I'll hit one a day like I planned. I did see a few horror films that were new to me: Don't Breath ***  Not bad, more of a thriller I guess, but nothing that really made me have nightmares. I guess since I felt far more sympathy for the 'bad guy'. Occulus**** I liked it a lot. I don't know that I'd watch it over and over like a new classic, but from beginning to end it's a good one the first time through. It had the me and the wife talking about it after it was over, and that's always a good sign. The Babadook*** The set-up is so good. The creepy atmosphere is just what you want for this time of year...and yet at the end it was all sizzle. I never quite got the steak. Again, not one that I will feel the need to make into an annual tradition, but first time through is a must see. I'm also making my way through classics from Universal as I do at various points every year. Eventually, I will have watched them all because they only made so many. This year it was The Old Dark House**** An acquired taste as all of those old black and whites are. But, if you like the genre this is one that doesn't get a lot of hype like the others. Captain Kronus Vampire Hunter**** One of my very favorites out of Hammer Studios. I always mention this at Halloween time in any social media I care to comment on. I should mention Walking Dead's season 7 premiere, I don't know how much it put me in a Halloween mood, but that was freaking brutal. 

Election 2016: In keeping with the horror theme I guess. I haven't made too many comments. Besides only around ten of you read my rantings anyway, but I think the differences are out there and plain as day for those who will open their eyes.

Clinton has a litany of scandals that she spins--blaming Russia etc.--but never denies. The mainstream media is in her pocket. They focus on all of the 'scandals' of Trump instead. Although his scandals never put the nation at risk. The Clinton campaign has played every dirty trick in the book, and even as a Trump supporter, I will agree that he hasn't done himself too many favors, but at the end of the day it still looks like Trump would win a fair election. That's the rub...will our elections be Fair? I've told a friend from Canada that most Americans will accept Broom Hillary winning even if the election is rigged. Because there is rigged--playing dirty tricks, spinning scandals, lying, making your opponent look his worst while making you look your best--that's expected. That's pollitickin'. But then there's RIGGED and I think that the Hillary campaign and the DNC have crossed that line. Conflicts of interests between the FBI and the Attorney General and her husband, the nomination as DNC candidate that was fixed from the start, and now possible voter fraud being reported early on in the process and possible felonies being committed by the Clinton campaign outside of Trump rallies. There's just too much smoke to say there isn't fire on the left side of the aisle. If the results look RIGGED there may well be civil unrest, and not from the usual suspects.

In spite of all of this, I for one have cast my absentee ballot for Trump, and I hope many many do the same.

Election 2016: What Happened to the Youth Movement?

Today on my Facebook feed a liberal friend asked what kind of a world I wanted to leave for my daughter in regard to the upcoming elections. We've been locked in the usual and useless left winger vs. right winger arguments for years even before this divisive election year. According to two of my fellow conservatives, my reply won the internet...at least for now...and here it is:

 "I would like for Chloe to live in a world wherein the United States returns to being a nation where no one--not even Presidents or Secretaries of State--is above the law. I want a world wherein our nation--allegedly a constitutional republic--actually follows its own constitution. I want a nation that stops assaulting our God given rights for the sake of political correctness. I want a nation that chooses life--including the lives of millions of unborn babies--over death, national sovereignty over international acceptance, and common sense over a false definition of 'tolerance'. In essence I want Chloe to live in a world that is the exact opposite of the one being brought about by progressives like Obama and Hillary."

I would also have hammered the need for secure boarders, but I know that my liberal friend--and he is a friend in a literal non-sarcastic way, unlike how I normally use the phrase--happens to have entered the States illegally as a child. I feel it's "punching down", but friends or not we do need secure boarders. We need to take the figurative handcuffs off of our law enforcement officers and allow them to do their duties and make judgement calls without fear of repercussions from so-called "racial profiling", and in rare situations, we need to put literal handcuffs on the law enforcement officers who do cross the line. The three branches of our government also--desperately--need to learn their roles and functions. Activist courts--especially the highest court in our land with the lifetime appointments--should not be allowed to create laws. It isn't their function. The White House shouldn't be celebrating the fact that our Judicial branch overstepped their bounds either. These are issues that I hope are fixed if Mr. Trump takes office. Will he actually be able to pull off a win...and then be effective dealing with congress? I can't say. He may be the absolute worst of them all, but right now we don't know that. We DO know that Hillary is a rattlesnake. I for one would rather take my chances with the mystery box than the known rattlesnake, and it seems a lot of people are coming around to that way of thinking. I just hope it's not too little, too late.

Some have asked me is there anything good that you can say about the current POTUS. I usually reply that it is good that he'll be retiring soon. Today, I put a bit more thought into the question and I think the one good thing that I can say about Obama is that at least he was young.  Hillary Clinton is 68 and Donald Trump is 70. When Obama finally does retire after serving two terms--and that day cannot come soon enough--he'll still be younger than either of his upcoming replacements. So I ask, What Happened to the Youth Movement? At age 42 I'm still young enough that it doesn't bother me having someone older than I am in office. Someone say 10 or even 20 years older than me would should still be somewhat in touch with the younger generation while using the knowledge and wisdom that comes with experience....but 68?  70? Just starting term one? I thin they've gone past the tipping point. These folks should be enjoying retirement. At some point it's only natural that the elderly can't keep up with modern technology and that they begin to lose some of their mental, physical and social prowess. No wonder Hillary is having coughing fits, collapsing, and screwing up e-mails--she's an old lady--my mom can't even use Facebook, and when Trump goes off on a tangent sounding like a cranky, old grandpa who can't reign in his tongue--it's because he is one. Maybe this is the last hurrah for candidates of this age--certainly from their era, it almost has to be. Either way I'm not too concerned about facing a two term presidency from Aunty Hill even if she does manager to steal the election. Of course I am desperately worried about the amount of damage she can cause while waiting for the Grim Reaper to come and collect. 

Movie Reviews: Kubo and the Two Strings

Could be *SPOILERS>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>* ahead.

I watched this movie in 3-D last night and I have to say that it is one of the best things I've seen all year. It didn't do so good at the U.S. box office, but I implore my ten or so loyal readers to go out and see it on the big screen--in 3-D if you can. You'll be loving life and feeling good when you leave the theater. The movie is one of those special ones that comes along once in a while that really has appeal for all ages and can pull the emotions out of you. It's scary, funny, sad, action-packed and above all loving. Such wisdom out of a cartoon.   5-star instant classic. 

Movie Reviews: Ranking the Nightmare on Elm St. Movies

For those who haven't read my blog before, I live and work in the United Arab Emirates. I teach English to ESL students in the 12th grade. Don't judge my teaching ability by any gaffes that may appear in my rants. I used to be a fairly good writer. Unfortunately, after seven full years of teaching abroad--the last six of which have been spent here, preceded by one year of teaching in Taiwan--my English skills have actually deteriorated rather than improved. Bad company corrupts good manners or in my case good English practice. You miss a lot when you work abroad. It's a sacrifice that you make so that you can bring in the big tax-free paycheck and dodge creditors. One thing I miss is Halloween. There are places around wherein expats can participate in something like Halloween, but the big celebration of fun that takes place in the States just doesn't happen here. I miss American Football--college and NFL--too, but that's a story for another day. So, for the next month or two--between bitching about Killary--I'm going to throw a few scary movie reviews up here to get me in the Halloween mood. The first thing I'm going to do is rank the Nightmare on Elm St. movies. I won't be covering a lot of new ground here as I agree with most critics and fans, but it will be a nice short one to start with.

1. A Nightmare on Elm St.: (1984)  The one that started it all. Many would say that it is still the best. It does hold up a lot better than some of the others. It's certainly scarier. I think almost everybody chooses this one, Dream Warriors or New Nightmare as their favorite. I'm in the Dream Warriors camp, but there's nothing wrong with this one. I call it a 5-star classic. I was able to watch this first run at the theater where my dad worked part-time as a cleaner. I was ten years old and loving life.

2. A Nightmare on Elm St. 2:Freddy's Revenge:(1985) A quick turn around to make a second part. It's my least favorite in the series--including the remake. They didn't really follow the "rules" of the majority of 'Elm St.' films and the acting in this one is atrocious--excluding Robert Englund of course. I later found out that there were tons of gay overtones in this movie. It was all over my head when I was eleven. I can still give it somewhere between a 2 and a 3-star rating. Freddy is like pizza.

3.A Nightmare on Elm St. 3: Dream Warriors:(1987) This is my favorite of the series. This is where they started bringing in fantasy elements and allowing the teen characters--some of them anyway--to put up a fight using their dream powers. The mix of horror and humor were balanced perfectly in this one. It still holds up to this day. You will notice a theme throughout the series: the better movies happen when they don't go for a quick turn around--this time spending two years before cranking out a sequel--and when Wes Craven has some involvement. This is 5-star all the way for me.

4.A Nightmare on Elm St. 4: The Dream Master:(1988) Case and point--one year between sequels and no Wes Craven equals mediocrity...for the most part. Freddy goes full comedy in this one and they kill off all the good characters from the third movie in the opening scenes Alien 3 style. That just sucked, and Alice wasn't nearly as good as the old characters were. I do remember liking this one more back when it first came out and I was a plucky teen just entering the ninth grade. It's probably been ten years or more since I last watched it. It's still entertaining, but clearly all of the non-Freddy actors and actresses have such flat delivery of their lines. It was a product of its time. I give it somewhere between a 3 and a 4.

5. A Nightmare on Elm St. 5: The Dream Child:(1989) Another one with a one-year turnaround. No wonder the series started losing steam; it was over-saturated. I didn't remember them coming out like that--I know the 'Saw' franchise was an annual thing for the longest time, but I never thought of these movies as yearly events. This one has grown on me over the years. It kind of flipped and flopped with 'Dream Master' and it has always been one of the good ones, but some of the kills--especially the  'Greta' kill--just seem too mean spirited. There is a delicate balance when doing gallows type humor. It's a little too dark for me this time. This same uncomfortable feeling shows up for me again in the remake.  For what it's worth I give it 4-stars. It was underrated by a lot of people including me.

6. Freddy's Dead:The Final Nightmare:(1991) Back to a two year turnaround, but this time it didn't help. This one is all over the place in tone, and I guess this is where they really lost the plot. Dream demons were stupid and really ruined Freddy's origin. I don't know what they were even thinking there. I liked the kills in this one--although one could argue that the pendulum of balance may have swung too much in the direction of lightheartedness this time. The 3-D effect in the theater was only so-so. Had they done it with today's 3-D technology it would have been a lot better. Lisa Zane was such a babe back then...alas, it was my last year of high school...now I'm 42...so....yeah...I can give it a 3-star review.

7. Wes Craven's New Nightmare:(1994) It's no masterpiece, but it's really grown on me over the years. Three full years since the last sequel and not exactly cannon, this movie addressed a lot of what went wrong with Freddy as a character. I won't say too much about it that hasn't already been said. It's worth a watch and is often in the discussion of which 'Elm St.' film was best. For what it's worth I give it 4-stars.

8. Freddy vs. Jason: (2003) I loved it and wish that they would have done more. It was nearly ten years between sequels this time. The director and writer gave lots of love to Freddy and Jason and the fans. I give it 4-stars. I wouldn't quite put it up there with 'original', 'warriors' or 'new' as far as "real" films go, but as a genre film--it was so awesome. I can't believe it's already 13 years old.

9. A Nightmare on Elm St.:(2010) I don't loathe it, but it's not very good. Freddy's character design is garbage. The movie is far more boring than it needs to be. They didn't try to do anything really new. Nightmare on Elm St. movies should be amazing now. The teens should have plenty of powers to fight Freddy with and Freddy should have a lot of creative kills--that's what makes these types of movies fun. The only cool thing they added were the 'micro-naps'. I also hate, hate, hate when they play up the 'child molester' angle with Freddy. I know he was never a nice guy in any of his origins, but mostly he needs to be killing wild teens--and he's more of a dirty old man toward the teens than young kids. I like the character played as a bogey man and urban legend than a child molester that's for sure. I give it between 2 and 3 stars again.

Final Ranking: 1.Dream Warriors
                           2.Original
                           3. Vs. Jason
                           4. New Nightmare
                           5. Dream Child
                           6. Dream Master
                           7. Freddy's Dead
                           8. Reboot
                           9. Freddy's Revenge

So, here in 2016 I hear rumors of another attempt at a reboot--Robert Englund is said to be interested in at least doing a cameo. Here's to it. Oh, and one more thing I always dug the posters for parts 1-5. It was really good artwork that you just don't get out of posters these days, and worth mentioning...avert your eyes from the Freddy's Dead poster though--simply standard fare.