#2 (1/10-1/15)

Hello All...

What a week it has been. People doing stupid things, saying stupid things and wearing stupid things. But... All of that is ok. It's ok because that's the way things have been since the beginning of mankind. Humans are stupid. We just are. There are a few that may possess a "high intellect" or may process information at a "genius level" but they are all still... Very... Stupid. The smartest people on Earth do some of the dumbest things at that is absolutely fine because it proves that they're human and not time-traveling cyborgs hell bent on killing Sarah Connor (But the terminators did stupid things too so, lets move on).

What's happening in this great country of ours? Well...

NATIONAL NEWS
Last Sunday border patrol officers in Pharr, Texas found close to 2500 pounds of marijuana in a commercial shipment of carrots from Mexico. Three thousand bundles of pot were wrapped tightly in orange tape to resemble actual carrots.

How crazy is that??? Of course, the nearly $500k worth of Mexican grass was seized but I think the smugglers should've received a pass on account of their insane creativity. Those guys have cojones grande, too. Unfortunately, large balls and massive creativity aren't worth much if you don't have common sense. A small amount of good weed has a very distinct odor. I can only assume that 2500 pounds of it is going to straight reek. And, indeed, it was the smell that first tipped off officials. Thanks to their carelessness, a lot of hard working American potheads will not be able to enjoy premium Mexican grass. Better luck next time.

Powerball madness swept the nation this week with bodegas and lotto spots from coast to coast flooded with eager gamblers hoping to become gajillionaires. The first drawing on Sunday had no winners causing the jackpot to rise to $1.5 BILLION freakin' dollars, the largest lottery prize in history. Wednesday's second drawing produced three winners who will be splitting the jackpot three ways. If I had a winning ticket, I wouldn't mind splitting the prize with 30 people or even 300. One hundereth of $1.5 billion dollars would be greatly appreciated by me at this present moment.

Thursday night's Republican debate was one for the ages with Donald "The Don" Trump having his first fight with Senator Ted Cruz. The bout led to Cruz taking jabs and throwing some serious shade at Trump regarding his "New York values". When a politician (or any public figure for that matter) attacks NYC, the city will respond back. That's exactly what the New York Daily News did on Friday's cover page:

Yes... That is the Statue of Liberty flipping the bloody bird.  I'm a Bostonian that's been living in NYC for almost a decade now. Even I know that you can't talk crap about New York [in public]. I understand that he's trying to get the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire but the New York shots weren't necessary. Now you've got an enemy with a comb over.

ENTERTAINMENT
Anyone who knows me knows that Quentin Tarantino is my cinematic/writing father. So, of course, I'm wondering why his latest film ('The Hateful Eight") is bombing at the box office. Apparently, according to The Police Benevolent Association, they are the ones responsible. Tarantino expressed the fact that he doesn't approve of police misconduct when he took part in an anti-police brutality march in October. Its because of his participation that the police have labeled him a "cop-hater" and proceeded to demonstrate their mutual feelings of disdain with a boycott. That is not cool. I'm not sure if the PBA was paying attention in 2015 but police across the country were beyond brutal. From racial profiling to just straight shooting people, it was not a good year for the police and the public's relations. This is how they react when someone is fed up with the brutal behavior of police of the past year? Just call them a "cop-hater"? I, personally, don't have an issue with the police. I do (however) have a serious problem with racist and socially inept people who hide behind their badges thinking that their jobs will shield them from having to take responsibility for their actions. There wasn't just one isolated incident. There were several incidents happening all over the United States which triggered public outrage and protests in a few major cities. That doesn't mean you attack one man and his art because he stood up for what he believes is right. It means that you do a thorough investigation, find the root of the problem, correct it and take heavy measures to make sure it doesn't happen again. Period.

This past week J.J. Abrams revealed the teaser trailer for "10 Cloverfield Lane" which is not exactly a sequel but what the director is calling a "blood relative". You can watch the trailer here:

I know... I CAN'T WAIT EITHER!!!!! It's taken forever but I'm glad a follow up is coming soon. One would think Abrams would be relaxing after his mega hit Star Wars took over the world but, obviously, that's not his style.

It will soon be that time of year again. Next month will the the annual NBA All-Star weekend. This year is taking place in Toronto complete with the All-Star Celebrity game. So, they'll need some celebrities to coach the teams. Who better than the "tallest man on the court" Kevin Hart and b-ball enthusiast Drake to take on the roles. It should definitely be a hilarious event so get ready because February 12th at the Ricoh Coliseum it's going down.

I said this last week and, unfortunately, I'm saying it again this week. RIP to Alan Rickman.

Those from the younger generation know him mostly as Snape from the Harry Potter films. I will remember him as the disgruntled alien actor Alexander from "Galaxy Quest" and super villan Hans Gruber from the original "Die Hard" (For those who don't know "Die Hard" was a movie staring Bruce Willis and has several sequels. It came out in 1988. YES... 1988). He was truly gifted and could literally play any role. He will be missed. Both him and David Bowie (who also passed RIP) were actually referenced in the same clip from "The Simpsons" as found by independent.co.uk. You can watch the clip here:

Bittersweet indeed.

Well... That's post number 2. I know I said I would be posting on Fridays but, you know what? Life happens. But I will try to have them done on Fridays. Thank you so much for reading, feel free to leave me some comments and we'll talk soon.

PEACE OUT!

BACK AGAIN!!!

Hello!

Its been a while since I've been writing in public but I'm very happy to be writing my first post on my new blog (YAY!). To tell you a bit about me, I'm a Bostonian that has been a writer since I was 8 years old. Teachers would assign me book reports and I would turn in college level essays. I moved to NYC 9 years ago to pursue dreams of being a screenwriter. Unfortunately, being a starving artist isn't as romantic as portrayed in the movies so I had to make my mark in the Real Estate and Automotive industries. But, I kept writing. After reading some of my work, one critic (my mother) told me "You've been pushing the envelope since you were a child. Why don't you just stick to what you were born to do?".  One could only surmise just from that statement alone that I'm a born writer.  That person surmising would be absolutely correct. Mix that fact with a spoonful of tenacity, a cup of intelligence, two tablespoons of quick wit, a dash of love for a good laugh... Bring to a boil and serve while hot-- This is a recipe for AWESOMENESS. This is what I hope to deliver to you on a weekly basis. I'll be commenting on the week's top political and entertainment news. As a citizen of this country (The U S of A), I feel that we all have a voice and should express our opinions. Good or bad. Pretty or ugly. Dirty or grimy. I'm hear to speak my mind and share my thoughts. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to chill with me. Now... Let's get started.

POLITICS
This presidential race has been an ugly one particularly on the Republican side. The only thing happening with the democrats is what's up with Hillary's emails (who cares) and is Bernie going to continue to be the indie raging bull he has been. Seriously... Who cares about Hillary's emails. They say it goes to her credibility. I'll tell you this... If you watch any big, scary alien attack movie and some officials say "Let's not tell the American people what's going on because they'll freak out" that's because its true. We will freak out. That's what happened with Benghazi and that's what's happening now. Americans don't need to know what's going on because Americans are stupid (Shut up, they are) and will fly off the handle with the fuel fired media and run amuck. No one needs that. This is for your own good so, to speak plainly, fall back.

Then there is Ben Carson. Usually, if there's a Black guy running for politics we, as African Americans, are usually all behind him. After all his shenanigans, I'm voting for the White guy (or most likely WOMAN).

And now onto "The Don" Donald Trump. His hair isn't real, BTW.  He's talking about Ted Cruz, Rubio, Christie, Mexicans... When will everyone realize that this is all for publicity and to shift your focus from what's really important. And, when I say what's really important, I mean EVERYTHING ELSE!  How do you (the media) devote days (even weeks) to debunking or invalidating Trump's accusations. This is the same man who said Putin is a good guy. Am I taking crazy pills?!? Is anyone but me seeing how ass-backwards this is?!? Trump is good for ratings and definitely for laughs. I mean... That comb-over is not his real hair. Its not. But, I will tell you this, Donald Trump will not make the Republican Primary. If he does...

REPENT NOW!!!

THE END IS NEAR!!!

And, that's all I have to say about that.

Moving on...

ENTERTAINMENT
There were a few amazing developments in the entertainment world last week. Star Wars: The Force Awakens has beaten Avatar as the biggest movie of all time. This is, of course, until James Cameron drops Avatar 2 next year. This will be the second Avatar movie in what is rumored to be a four film series. We'll see how this battle plays out with 2 more Star Wars episodes written and ready to go in the coming years. I've got popcorn ready.

Adam Sandler's Netflix comedy "The Ridiculous Six" has had the most streams in 30 days of release in Netflix history since premiering just last month. Most were definitely not expecting this kind of response with all of the negative reviews the movie had received. However, the crew over at Happy Madison is definitely getting the last laugh. "The Ridiculous Six" is the first of four original movies coming to Netflix from Sandler after signing a huge deal with the streaming company last year. "The Ridiculous Six", a spoof of the Western "The Magnificent Seven", is absolutely hysterical. And, if that's not enough, it has a side-splitting star-studded cast including the usually ridiculously hot Taylor Lautner as a buck-toothed halfwit. Absolutely spectacular (in my opinion) and definitely a must see if you're in the mood to laugh your ass off.

The fashion house of Louis Vuitton has released a short film showcasing its 2016 Spring/Summer campaign entitled "The Heroine"in which a group of girls model the house's best pret-a-porter. The short also stars Jaden Smith who is also modeling LV women's wear.

Apparently, this has people in an uproar. Why? I'm not necessarily sure. One person I spoke to said that it was because Jaden is modeling women's clothes. What kind of close-minded nonsense is that? It is 2016. People can love who ever they want. People can pretty much do whatever they want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. I'm assuming that includes them wearing whatever they want, as well. When I was in high school, I hung out with  lot of punk rock kids. One of those kids wore a kilt. He was not considered effeminate. He was actually pretty bad ass. Years later, Kanye and Lil' Wayne also wore skirts. They were bad ass too. However, its my opinion that Kanye and Lil' Wayne received more scrutiny because they're members of the Hip Hop community which has always held their men to a high standard of "Machismo".  I'm glad that we as a society are moving (slowly but surely) into a direction of acceptance for all but we all need to get with the program. There are so many bigger issues to be concerned with than who is wearing what. If someone (man or woman) wants to bedizen themselves in some grand "Hunger Games" style, who cares??? If they are not hurting anyone, I say, go for it.

I hate to close on a sad note but I can't complete this post without saying rest in peace to the legendary creative genius, David Bowie. My prayers go out to his family and equally legendary wife, Iman.

Today is Monday, January 11th. Just an FYI, I will be posting on Fridays. This was an off week so, sorry about that. But, I appreciate the love and any comments you may have and we'll talk again in a few days!