Stress...

Getting ready to do this 24 hour comic today is more stressful than I thought it would be. I thought my wife was off today, but I'm watching the kids again today. I try to do stuff while I watch them, but they often command all of my attention. There is always after my wife gets off from work and they are sleep. I have tons of bootleg movies to watch (you should see my DVD and CD collection, it's huge. I need to bootleg more).

I even feel a little depressed going into this. What if I can't do it? How bad will it suck? Will I have any good ideas? Earlier I felt the pressure building, so I'm trying to figure out ways to release that pressure. I've wrote in my journal, I've sketched a little, ate a snack. I felt a little better after that, but not as loose and rested up as I want to be to do this. That's a problem, but only because I know I'm really going to do it. Even if it doesn't stay fun the whole 24 hours.

The main things is I want to get a good start so at least some of it will be fun. If nothing else it'll be educational. It kind of feels like preparing to go camping. It'll go down before midnight.

I don't need luck. I really don't want to make this out to be more important than it truly is. It's a dare.

MrBig

MrBig
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

I need to get myself psyched to do a 24 hr comic. I'll try before school starts again. I promise. Even if it sucks.

Who is Mike Jones?

Really, who the hell is he? Where did this guy come from?

Being from Houston, when I was in high school, it used to be common for dudes to flow like Lil' Flip and Mike Jones do. Cats would carry around little tape players with a speaker and hold it up to their ear, maybe listening to screwed 2Pac or some Houston cats. On the back of the bus cats would bust out and start freestyling off the top of their heads, passing it from man to man, until somebody fucked up. Sometimes they were tight, and other times it was weak. That's exactly what Mike Jones album sounds like.

Now, I was shocked that Mike Jones album is actually pretty cool. The production is top notch. Only if the tracks were given to better lyricists. His album is very easy to listen to as long as you only occasionally listen to the lyrics. Now, Mike is not that bad, but he talks about the same stuff alot. A whole lot. Even listening to the iTunes demo, I heard "candy paint" on many of the songs. He at least tries to rap about different subjects.

Simplistic lyrics are tollerable since this is a riding album (the screwed version is for smoking), I can't complain since the dudes in Houston act like Jay-Z's lyrics are too complicated. Seriously. I'm not playing. This is a good album if you treat it like what it is. I will never be a Mike Jones fan though. I personally won't do too much paying for albums that, aside from the beats, could've been done over the weekend.

The Ticket

I've resisted blogging this for a while, but I must. Friday last week I was $120 dollars poorer due to a yellow light violation.

When I got this ticket, it was the third time I had been pulled over in 8 days. The first two times I was told my brake light was out, though it was working. The third time was because of running a yellow light.

This ticket theoretically could've been avoided. The cop would've let me go, but I had to speak my mind to him. It was upsetting to me to be pulled over so frequently, having 20 minutes of my time wasted for no good reason. I can't say what was going through this cop's head, but it was obvious that either I go through the yellow light or slam on the breaks. He tried to tell me I was speeding, but he couldn't tell me how fast I was going.

I didn't feel like I was being done a favor to be pulled over on a whim, having my time wasted, then just letting me go. When I got the ticket after argueing breifly with him, I felt better. I knew then and still feel now, that if I wouldn't have spoke my mind to him I would've regreted it. I would've felt victimized and uneasy just driving down the street. I still do, but I don't feel like I just sat there and took it.

Now, I'm well aware that running my mouth cost me money, but the bad part wasn't the ticket. The bad part is feeling like I'm doing something wrong by driving a damaged vehicle. My car is fully operational and I was the one who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident. The cops never did any looking for the guy who damaged my car, but they can harass me because of it. Being harassed is much worse than losing $120.

I've thought about it. I really have. I can't think of anything that I personally could've done wrong to deserve that kind of treatment. For a while, I even felt like it was my fault. I felt like people would tell me I was wrong for doing what I did. That is was me who got myself the ticket for being hot-headed. That wasn't the case though.

When I was in court Friday, I witnessed others who had been victimized in much the same way as I had. Yes, there were some people who were there doing bad stuff like stealing, even at 30 something years old, but many of the people were there for little stupid offenses like I was. Most of the people who were caught with no insurance had been pulled over for making wrong turns or having lights out. All but one was hispanic or black. My insurance at least was current and I could verify that, so that ticket would be thrown out.

I wouldn't call the judge racist, but he treated them all like numbers until one white guy approached the stand. It was funny because he was about my age, maybe a few years older, and the judge was treating him like he was an equal. Asking extr questions, giving him extra opportunities to talk and explain himself before he suggested he get a lawyer. The judge didn't exactly recommend it, but from how he spoke, it was obvious his opinion was weighed to the idea of him getting a lawyer to have the ticket thrown out. When it was my turn I was polite, but I wasn't given the same opportunities. I don't know what I would've said if I could have.

I said my "yes, sirs" and "no, sirs" and not after long, I was handed my slip to pay my $120 after having explained to me that once you enter a yellow light, you must leave on a yellow light. I somehow thought that maybe the judge would think it was silly and just throw it out. After the fined a retarded (mentally challenged, whatever) guy for pissing in public, I knew this wouldn't happen.

The world made a better place by one less person proceeding through yellow lights and one less wall pissed on.

Did I feel like I lost? No. Like I said, the harassment was worse than the money. I just went away with a little less faith in the system and a better understanding of why Snoop Dogg hates the Police so much.

I used to defend cops from that kind of verbal abuse. I used to try to tell my kids that they were the good guys and that the cops keep us safe. I don't know what to tell them anymore. I'm sure they do catch the badguys, but all too often, people of my skin color are looked at as the bad guys. As if our genetic make-up determined whether we were right or wrong doers. I used to dismiss that kind of talk as conspiracy theories, but as I grow older I just realize that I was a kid that wanted to believe better about the world.

I have a story about being thrown in jail for a week for contempt of court, but that's for another time. That one hard to talk about and is way more of an injustice than this.

I still manage to stay in an overall good mood. Complaining helps people deal with stuff like this.

Extra Questions

Did Michal Jackson do that? Did he do it the first time?

I don't think he did it.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (or Noisy A** Kids)

Man...that movie was...I don't know. I can't describe it. It's definately one of the best in the series. Thank goodness my wife was at work, so I could enjoy it guilt free and with no fussing on her part. I had to shell out an extra $8 for my older kids though. The ticket taker didn't even look, I could just bought one less and he wouldn't have noticed. Don't matter, I'm bound to cop that joint bootleg before it's over with and I did bring my own M&M and Milk Duds. I forgot the drinks though.

I'll spare any details as many people will go see this, but I will say Mase Windu went out like a soldier! I don't know who was harder, Yoda or Obi Wan...hmm.

What I wanted to talk about was the kids sitting behind me. The were yelling inappropriate things at the worst times. The first two times were when Anakin had went over to the Dark Side and the showed the close-up shots with him in the cloak. The were yelling stuff like, "look at that pimp!" The first time was annoying. The second time was a few minute later. I promised myself I would say something if they did it again.

I really had to restrain myself though, those kids were right in my ear with that junk and it made me jump. My heart was beating really fast and I couldn't think of anything nice to say. I wanted to come out with it then while I had the words in my head because if I waited until the wrong time, they might screw up a part of the movie.

The last time was the worst, they did it when Padme was confronting Anakin about his deeds, that was unacceptable. It was a MAJOR part of the movie. I was so pissed off I just blurted out, "Shut the FUCK up!" I was like ooh. I didn't mean to say that I didn't think their parents were around though. They were all in the Junior High range.

That was wild. I usually don't curse, I was raised Catholic, so it's in my system. I write cursing, but I still can't say it without feeling guilty. I didn't this time. I felt a little nude for a while, but when I saw nobody said anything and the kids didn't shoot back with anything I relaxed. It felt good after a little bit. I don't mind talking, clapping, cheering, anything BUT people trying to yell stupid stuff to disrupt the crowd. Especially not in my ear.

I went on to enjoy the movie, but a couple of times, I caught myself wanting to apologize. To tell them I didn't mean to curse. At the end of the movie they were out of there so quick I couldn't. No skin off my nose.

See that. I just recommend if you call some obnoxious people out that you think up some words to say before you get the tickets.

Shyheim

Shyheim
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

My oldest child, the Dennis the Menace of the crew.

It gets excedingly difficult to take good picture of my kids as they get older. All Shyheim and Phajja like to do is pose. I don't like how the staged pictures turn out alot of the time.

Shyheim can be a pain. He doesn't shut up any part of the day and he often gets in trouble for not listening. I'm not putting him on medication though. I just think he's fearless, but that can be a bad thing as well as a good thing.

He can be a real sweet kid though when he's not being selfish. Yesterday, when my wife was going mad, he came over and gave me a hug. I wasn't even paying attention to what my wife said, but that almost made me cry. I didn't though because she would only think she was getting to me and she wasn't. I have no need for her form of drama.

Even though he's been acting out in school all week, I can't stay mad at him right now for that. It made me realize that even though he can be a fool, that he's still my baby boy.

Death

Death
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

I did this while I was reading the Piers Anthony book "On a White Horse."

Phajja

Phajja
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

This is Iyonna's big sis Phajja. She is starting to do things that tickle me too. Yesterday, she did something I didn't teach her. When we were going to pick up my wife from work, I'll often have the kids climb in on one side, take their seats. I then would strap them in, Iyonna can't do it and Phajja is in a booster seat. Shyheim, my oldest can take care of it himself. Anyway, yesterday she gets in the car unlocks her door, then opens mine! I felt good inside when she did that. She had got in the habit of opening her door, but for her to open my door shows that she was trying to be helpful. Very good self imposed manners. She's very ladylike for a three-year-old going on four. I seriously don't know where she gets alot of her behavior and mannerisms from. Her mother doesn't act that way.

When I met her mother, she didn't even know that in the modern day version of chivalry, women are supposed to be helpful and participate too. When a guy open the door for a girl, she's supposed to lean over and unlock your door (That is unless you have power locks or keyless entry, then screw it). That's one of the top rules.

I know they say children don'r raise themselves, but I think she does a little bit. Hope she keeps this up when she starts school in the Fall.

Damn Mice! Part 2

Since the last time I was chasin' mice around through closets, kitchens, and what not, I been resting easy. I've been keeping the joint (crib, apartment) clean, plus I've had insomnia up until last night, so them mice haven't been eatin' good whatsoever. I still haven't got any open face traps yet, I wonder if they still sell them? I missed the other kind that snapped and broke their backs, I guess they were inhumane or something.

My residential mice had been nocturnal, but when a MF get hungry, he gets desperate. I saw two mice out scoutin' this time in broad daylight a few hours ago. I saw one peaking his head out, and the bold larger one (the one I was talking about before) came out and tried to snatch him a few crumbs. I guess since they changed the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom, the insect (roach) population has dropped and them mieces haven't been getting much food. After long, I wouldn't be surprised if they found a way up to the higher pantry shelves and started chewing through boxes.

I wasn't havin' it. I told myself next time one of those cats (mice) came around trying to catch me sleepin' I was gonna kill 'em. So, when I saw the big one (he's not that big) creep out into the open in broad a** daylight, I snapped.

When I went into the closet though, I didn't see nothin.' They ain't that good of escape artists, they're just small I told myself this time, so I had to look carefully. In the far corner they were not, not behind the card table. Hmm. After shuffling around a few paintings, I was confused. Then I decided to move all the paintings. Yep, in the last place I looked. There they were, chillin.'

One broke for it. I let him go, he was too quick, but I was able to trap the other one behind the paining. I squeezed the MF with all my might, but it was no use, mice are just too flexible and small. The picture wasn't hard enough either. With him pinned there, I went and got some barbecue tongs. I figured that was about all I could do. If I tried to crush him with a boot or broom, he would have enough room to get away.

So, I got his butt. Even with him clenched in those, I could tell I wasn't really hurting him. I didn't have anything to put him in, so I decided to throw him out side. He'd probably find his way back in, but I didn't want these mice to think I was some kind of joke. Humans are the kings of this here apartment. Better know that.

Just as I opened the door however, he started squirming and got loose of the tongs. Behind the refrigerator he ran. Where he ran I could see the him, but I knew I wasn't gonna be quick enough. I did jab my broom at him one time for good measure. Respect.

I don't know what I'm gonna do with those paintings I inherited when my Mom moved to Atlanta. I thought they were cool, but I never hung them up, so now they just take up space. Now, I know definately where to put those traps if I can find them.

Weekending, Weekbeginning

Iyonna

Iyonna
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

This is my youngest child, Iyonna. She's almost two now. Recently, what she has started to do is tripping me out. She was walking before she was one (twelve months to my wife), then she started to climb the stairs. For a long time she would go up there by herself whenever anyone wasn't looking. She was pretty fast at it! But she couldn't get down. "I cain't...I cain't," she'd cry. That's what she says when she can't do something.

Now, that's changed. I've noticed that when I hear her going up the stairs and I call for her, she actually goes comes back down. The record so far that I've seen is three steps up. She's already rowdy enough, but now she's gonna be unstoppable. She right on track for terrible two.

Flat Tire

Flat Tire
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

I noticed this particular strip feels like a continuity when I finished it. If it will be, it will be short.

My Horoscope Today Was Pretty Close... (or Racism at its most Ridiculous or Put Your Racial Slurs Here, Please!)

Horoscope: "Quickie: Lots of factors are at play. You don't have to take it personally, thank goodness.
Overview: Don't worry about this being an unlucky day. It might be a flat tire that puts you there, but you'll undoubtedly end up in the right place at the right time."

I'm been restless, posting my butt off among other things all night. I actually tried to go to sleep tonight, but it was no use. So I went back to the gaming forums to see what was up. Not much changed, so I went to check my site stats to see where the recent surge of visitors was coming from. I wasn't at all surprised by the ones that came from my thousand posts on the Gamespot.com and GameTrailer.com message boards, but I was a little curious about a few.

I noticed some came from the Technorati search engine, I don't know how I got on there, the other searches were from Google. I suppose from there, somebody found my Xbox arguement convincing enough to link to at the Opa Ages forums. Once I got through the registration process, I discovered a rather one sided discussion with my Xbox blog entry as the lead arguement as if I was some kind of gaming guru. The title of the post was "Ashiedu Nwadiei on Xbox 360." I felt honored.

Now, I absolutely hate one sided arguements, so I was pissed that the first post was going in that direction. He had a rather strong opinion about my liking of Halo. When I say Halo, I mean Halo 1 & 2. I didn't see much difference and I've owned the bootleg Mac version, Halo 1 & Halo 2 for Xbox. With that as the first arguement, I was certain to see my undefended post zealously trashed by Halo lovers. I was prepared for that what I wasn't prepared for was this:

ironworkers for truth: "As soon as Hans figures out what nationality that guy is, expect the appropriate racial slur."

or:

DeadmeatGA: "What does a nigger know? Nothing."

or:

Hans (This guy is an administrator): "Who the fuck cares what this person thinks? His opinion is as good as EZHooker's."

I wasn't exactly furious, people can be extremely ignorant and just plain stupid on the internet. Most wouldn't have the hearts to say what they say on the internet to my face. [Seriously, you have anything hateful to say, I'll give you my telephone number] I haven't ever experienced this kind of behind-my-back internet racism before however. It was weird. I don't know how I was discovered or how I ended up on that message board, but yet someone, somewhere still hated me. Ain't that the way. Sometimes I feel like no matter what I do or what I think, when people find out I'm black the first thing they will judge me on is my race. Often, this is the case.

Now, I was defended. The first time wasn't too much, but it was something. The next post I really appreciated.

LaikaComeHome: "What do you know? You like to pretend that you know a lot, but you don't."

after him, I got my three cents in. Then:

creamy chowder with lumps: "nevermind deadmeat, friend.

he isn't to be taken seriously.

rather, he is merely a mask concealing the identity of one too cowardly, too ashamed, to reveal himself.

i agree with much of your sentiment, feeling the premature release of the xbox360 exposes microsoft to a brand of criticism that they were immune to this gen.

with the ps3 coming in with a SIGNIFICANT power advantage, the xbox360 has been rendered irrelevant, at the hands of microsoft, relegated to the back of the bus with the weakest hardware and even less third party interest than its predecessor suffered through.

microsoft can package the release of the 360 as "cool" and "edgy," marketing it as the "extreme" alternative, but it's all just so transparent, a ploy to divert attention from its glaring inconsequentiality -- inferior visuals that're only a minor step up from the xbox, poor third party support, and no true HD support.

i, too, am a negro.

u r my friend."

Like I said, I appreciated that. All of it. I reported those posts, but when I noticed that one of the ignorant party was an administrator and the running comments along the top of the page (12 niggers currently being lynched in #opa-ages , 13 babies lost their gaming-age nigger daddy to #opa-ages) I realized that my complaints might just go ignored. I was pissed off at the guy for linking to me on such a site. I mean, he practically used my blog post as a shield. He didn't get insulted at all! I emailed him and spoke my mind pretty well. The other guys I emailed and private messaged head on. I doubt I'll get a response. I wonder why they posted on another site to respond to me instead of my blog? I did get a response from my defender, but what I didn't understand is why he still visits these kinds of forums with all of the racism going on. He said it was for the intelligent discussion and lax administration. I guess they must not know he's black. Weird that it would make a difference.

My horoscope was pretty well on I suppose. I even got a flat tire a few days ago.

Xbox 360 another Dreamcast

I've seen the new Xbox 360 thing on MTV and I have to say I'm not impressed. The graphics aren't as good as I thought. They looked good, but nowhere near a step-up that next generations systems should be.

What's all this stuff with wireless controllers, detachable hard drives, and micropayment systems? Are they trying to bleed us less affluent gamers dry? I've known about wireless since the NES days, but I've never wanted to pay for the extra batteries. A cord works fine. Detachable hard drives are stupid because history has proved that game makers don't support nonstandard hardware. They have barely supported Xbox's hard drive features as it is. Some downloadable content and ability to play custom music, that's all. The music, game saves, and content will never take up even 10 GB on my system. Lastly, no way will I PAY for custom content when for years people have been giving this stuff away free on the internet.

Improving Graphics is not what makes a next generation. Microsoft so far has no idea what it's doing. Sony is learning, but they haven't had much innovation that revolutionized gaming yet, if they've had any. The rumbling controller was the biggest advance in interactivity in games and that was Nintendo's invention years ago. The Eye Toy hasn't done anything.

The way I look at it, the 32 bit era was like the 8 bit era of 3D. Us more experienced gamers had to get used to bad 3D graphics and had to sacrifice gameplay for new 3D experiences. N64 was the best thing out, but Playstations CD sized gaming killed it. Mario 64 and the rumble pak were some of the best of that era.

When this current generation came around, the graphics and gameplay returned, but what we've been missing is real games. Grand Theft Auto and some other have fit the bill, but the gaming industry is on a whole less popular because the quality of games has fallen. Graphics will become a non-factor in this next generation, so gamers will be looking for the best games and experiences. It's granted that Sony has the muscle, so I might get a PS3 mearely because they'll have the cool games. I'll stick with Nintendo for breaking ground and making classics. The Xbox almost seems unimportant now. Graphics and online were Microsofts only advantage. No one actually liked games like Halo, they just thought they did.

Random Question?

Does anybody enjoy getting spam e-mail? Does anybody actually buy these products?

The Conclusion - Philosophy

I got a "A" in Philosophy. I liked that class, but I don't think I didn stellar work. I liked the discussions in class more. Alot of the time, it was just me and one other guy in class carrying the discussions with the teacher.

Now, I'm not the kind of guy that explicitly tries to piss people off, but I often speak freely about touchy subjects if I think I can defend myself. It was funny, because if I said these things on the internet, I would have gotten a hundred angry responses, however most of the class would keep their mouths shut. Except for the one guy. The only discussion I actually got the entire class to open up on was about legality of marijuana. Almost everyone threw in their little tidbits about MJ. I learned alot that day, but it was practically the end of the semester.

Overall, I got 3 "As" and a "B." Better overall than last semester, but I felt my stress level was higher this time.

Rakim

Rakim
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

Rakim. Considered by some the greatest MC of all time. In my opinion it's Nas. I've thought at great length about it, but who has been better than Nas to touch the mic? Rakim was an innovator though and deserves his props.

Ray Charles - Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand

After having some Tequilla with my wife and getting tired of The Matrix Reloaded we decided to watch Ray. Movies are so much better when you have a buzz. When Ray started blowing up, one of the songs that was playing was "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand." When that song was on, my body just felt good. That doesn't happen when I'm not drinking normally. So, instead of just a portion of the song, I had to hear the real thing. That's why I love iTunes (and it's illegal equivalents). Well, I copped the song off iTunes in less than two minutes. Now, I'm jamming it like it was the latest 50 Cent single. If I ain't never heard it before, it's new music.

Man, I have to acknowledge there are some benefits of getting drunk, even if it's something I don't normally do.

Peace.

Catalog Girl

Catalog Girl
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

A sketch I did from a Target Sunday catolog.

Principles of Chemistry

Man, I passed Principles of Chemistry with a B! Now, I was stressed out so much this semester that makes me happy. I think it had to have been because Smentowski liked me or at least the class. I usually don't have a problem just picking up on things, but Chemistry was hell. I guess I'll be able to look him in the eye the next time I see him in the hallway.
I knew I would pass my Fundamentals of Art with an A.

Existentialism

Existentialism
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

View my webcomic at flickr.com.

Random Question?

Do you think think OJ really did it?

Star Wars Episode 2 Re-edit

I recently downloaded the Star Wars Episode 2 Re-edit. I've paid for 3 tickets at the movies and own the DVD, so I have a right to download it (in my opinion). I really didn't see the big difference. I thought the movie was good to begin with. I think they handle Jar-jar (the 3D black bafoon) pretty well in this one and the droids weren't an annoyance. The acting was a bit chessy, but I think they were trying to emulate the previous trilogy. For instance, Samual Jackson is a good actor, so the lines he delivered obviously had to have been for the sake of creating the character Mase Windu.

Some parts of the original bothered me, but they weren't corrected by the edit and were necessary to the original. The awkward romance between Anakin and Padmé was one aspect. I still wince when I think about how excepting Padmé was when Anankin told her he killed an entire village, including women and children. She just acted like it was a temper tantrum! This especially bothered me since I play the video game Knights of the Old Republic where they treated the Tuskans like they were real people even if they could be vicious. You got to disguise as them and sneak into their community.

Anyway, what I would like to see is the Re-edit to Phantom Menace. That was a horrible movie. I've only seen it twice, but I saw why I hated it the first time the second time I saw it.

HD in the next gaming generation.

You know what annoys me? These game makers who actually think real people are worrying about HD. It's so expensive, the ordinary person couldn't worry about HD even if the wanted to. I like Nintendo's stance. If you have it as an extra feature, good, but it's not a main draw. Doesn't matter whether Microsoft is pushing it or not, things can never get pushed, they just happen. For video games, it's not the time for HD. Give it another 10 years.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE HOUSTON ROCKETS

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE HOUSTON ROCKETS: "Rockets Force Game 7"

I guess the Rockets did it big last night. I missed it. I forgot to set my DVR and was probably doing something stupid. Looks like they put the Mavs away with no mercy, just like I was talking about in my previous Rockets post.

Games under the gun - page 2 | CNET News.com

I'll have to admit that Postal 2 is fun, but it's not as addictive as Grand Theft Auto. Forgive me, but one of the funniest things about CNET using thses two examples is one is a white bad guy and the other is a black bad guy. I guess there's some equality there.

Games under the gun | CNET News.com

The Alamo - 2000 Something Version

I got my Netflix movies today. So far, I've only watched The Alamo. It sucked. I used to think I was a movie pro, but now I really can't judge a movie purely on the reviews anymore. I thought there would've been something in here I liked, but I was wrong. What didn't I understand about "boring." That it was.

I'm really getting tired of the "legend smashing" movies with the crap about a "real" King Arthur, a "real" Trojan War, and this crap. Troy got away with robbing the magic from traditional mythical heroes, but doing so with The Alamo just made it boring. Luckily I'm not too sharp on my Texas history otherwise I might have been really peeved to have my images of these guys shattered.

What was really bad about the movie is that I didn't care much for any of the hero's. Not even Davey Crockett, and I like Billy Bob Thornton usually. I mean, I found myself sympathizing with the Mexicans the way they portrayed them as a bunch of young willing kids commanded by the terrible Santa Anna. They really kept emphasizing that. Also, what was that crap about the slave wanting to fight? I know they wanted the Alamo to seem like everyone wanted to die for it, but that was just rediculous. The slave owner (I don't even remember who the guy was) wouldn't turn his slaves loose either. This might've been accurate, but it made him seem like a jerk. Alot of the heros seemed like jerks in this one. It's okay to deconstruct a hero as long as you make him more human. More believable and thus more of a hero, but they didn't do that in this movie. They just let the negative stuff hang.

My recommendation: Check this out from Netflix only if you are going to get high when you watch it or perhaps if you want to know how to make a boring big budget film. How much did this damn thing cost? I heard it was a lot.

Big L - Put It On (Nwadiei Remix)

I found an a ccapella version of Big L's "Put it On" (I don't know why they called it Married to Marijuana Freestyle" and attempted to remix it with Garageband. This is a guy I liked before I knew he was dead. I wonder why he never blew up. He was better than Jay-Z and alot of others in my opinion. Anyway, it's not masterful remixing, but I had fun with the free Tune-up Mini loops. I couldn't completely work it the way I wanted to with the combination of loops I tried, but I was happy enough with it to listen to it a few times.

You should be able to get the remix here: http://www.ourmedia.org/node/9827

or here: http://members.cox.net/nwadiei/music/Married%20to%20Marijuanna.mp3

The original here:



And the free Garageband Loops here: http://www.tuneuploops.com/tuneupmini.html

Soundtrack Music

Internet Archive: Details: Soundtrack Music

Let's do this for starters. I don't know why it hasn't showed up on ourmedia.org yet. This is some music I was using for a soundtrack to a documentary I'm making about myself, for myself, just using my iSight camera.

Vonage - The Broadband Phone Company

I've been trying to switch over to Vonage, but after 2 months the process still isn't complete. I had been trying to keep in contact with them for months, but they just tell me the wheels are in motion. Last month, when the free trial was up, they charged me even though I still had my line open with SBC. I had sent them an email prior to that stating I wouldn't have two services open at the same time, they still charged me anyway giving another one of those annoying, emails that don't really answer any of my questions, thanking me for my patience. I told them I wasn't patient, I really wasn't going to do it. In the end, I had to call them up direct, with my SBC line no less and tell them off. It made me feel guilty because the guy who was handling me was nice, but still I couldn't let them off the hook. I had to tell him what they done to piss me off. Once it was off my chest, I went back to my normal calm self. He gave me a 2 more months free, apologized, and begged me to stick with it. Like I said. I felt guilty for ripping on this guy, but I have comfort knowing that he's a smart guy and that it wasn't him I was mad at. Next time, I call them direct, I hate the indirectness of electronic communication. It's too easy for them to dodge or ignore you.

Two Guns

Two Guns
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

I really don't want to admit how much I paid for one of these Sega Stunners for my old Saturns. One I will say I got for twenty bucks. Virtua cop 1 was $1 or something and Virtua Cop 2 came with the other gun. I was surprised that these guns were both brand new, still wrapped. Virtua Cop 2's was still in the shrink wrap. It was like somebody put these in a time capsule. Where else could I get a square deal on these besides Amazon.com. Ebay is a jungle.

Illinois game bill moves on, California bill halted - News at GameSpot

Illinois game bill moves on, California bill halted - News at GameSpot: "Illinois game bill moves on, California bill halted"

I did a report on video game violence and it seems funny how game developers look at ratings enforced by the law a bad thing. They say it will hurt their sales. Too bad, if people are so afraid that video games are bad for our kids, then the rating need to be inforced. Most kids can go into any store and buy a game like Grand Theft Auto, even when it's blamed for causing kids to kill. They're bringing up a lawsuit against RockStar, Wal-mart, and other responsible for this kid Devin Harris, having being able to play game like GTA: San Andreas. He killed 3 cops GTAstyle.

The only thing I concluded was that in some cases, game can influence these kids, but usually the impressionable one who had bad lives anyway. They need laws to help out parents and protect the game makers asses from lawsuits, not to protect their sales to underage kids. Video game should be treated no differently than movies, porn, and tabacco.

Victory! (or Mission Accomplished)

I got an "A" in my creative writing class, the only class I cared if I did well in. Only thing is, it's not a required class. I'm sure I did well in Philosophy, but Chemistry and Fundamentals of Art are question marks. I know, that's bullsh*t that a so called artist would not want to excel in a beginner's class, but I just couldn't jazzed about it.

Spam Slideshow

With Mac OS X Tiger's new slideshow within Mail feature, I view a spam slideshow consisting of disarrayed image clippings of a fake award certificate telling me my mortgage had been preapproved. It was kind of scary when I found esc didn't automatically exit the slideshow. I had to quit Mail with command+Q.

Church (and funerals)

When I went to church when I was younger and saw people jumping up and down, gettin the Holy Ghost I used to think they were being damn fools. I din't think it was at all necessary for them to run up and down the aisle and yelling. They looked like they were going to have a seizure.

Now that I'm older, I don't think the same. You would think it'd be just the reverse. For a religious person who believes in God, there is nothing wrong for them to make a fool of themselves to praise God. It could only make God happy.

Especially in the case of funerals this is true. You will never be albe to see the person you are paying respects to again. If you loved this person, you would only honor them by letting the world know you will miss them. Especially now I sympathize with this. I don't feel immortal anymore now that I'm over 25, so I can see a deeper meaning to death and loss. Why not kick, scream, cry hugging on to the casket? Who exactly are you worrying about? Isn't it your grief to experience?

What's so wrong with emotion anyway? Is it only exceptable to be happy in public or occassionally pissed because the guy in drive-thru forgot your fries?

Rockets Philosophy

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE HOUSTON ROCKETS: "Rockets Downed by Mavericks
"
Welp, The Rockets lost again, but I enjoy watching this team play. I haven't seen the Rockets play with this kind of heart in a long time. The only problem I see is they make alot of careless mistakes and end up needing fourth quarter heroics from McGrady. They should keep the energy high from the jump off just like in the first two games. I wouldn't say the Mavericks are a better team exactly, but what else could I say. They execute when they need it. They are killers, they are the kind of team that doesn't let up. Those kind of teams are the ones I always wished were my team, but it never turns out that way. I always get the guys with alot of heart. That's good when you see legendary performances like the 13 points in the last 35 seconds like earlier in the season from McGrady, but fans like me end up expecting stuff like that and get disappointed. All that coming from behind has got to wear on a team and the fans after a while. For once, get out the gate gunning like it was the fourth quarter.

Dash Blog

This entry is a test with my new Dash Blog widget on the new Mac OS X tiger. For a while, I was thinking it wouldn't be too much different, it may be programming wise in the future. I was kind of PO'd that my Torque Game Engine wasn't compiling anymore and most of the stuff like automator I'll have to learn to use. Spotlight is cool, but it doesn't do much more than the old search for me right now. It's faster, but that's it. I am digging the burn folders and Dashboard. Especially this little tool. With all the weather, calculators, encyclopedias and dictionaries, Dashboard really eliminates all those little tiny applications and puts them all in one spot. I love it. Making individualize apps, it really takes away the burden of web browsers needing to do so much.

On the Dark Side (alternately: On the Black Hand Side)

A couple of days ago, after picking my wife up from work, maybe Friday night, I got pulled over. I couldn't figure out why. I never speed and I don't break traffic laws. I wasn't worried, not even with the knowledge I didn't have my current insurance card on me. I sit there patiently, the cop creeps around shining the flashlight in my face like he was approaching a murder suspect. He asks me "did you know you had a light out?" Of course I didn't know. It only costs like $2 to replace a light, I don't have a problem with that. He wastes the time of running a check on my license, then lets me go. I was only slightly perturbed.

The following night. On my way to pick up my wife, I was pulled over again. I hadn't even gotten a mile from my apartment. Same thing. He tells me I have a light out. I wasn't polite to this one, but didn't really get a chance to be rude. I sat there impatiently drumming my legs. At great length, the cop returns with my license and tells me he is going to let me, go, but if it's going to be a while before I fix my light, get some red tape to cover it. Now, it was a while back that I was rear-ended, but I told him it wasn't my fault I was hit-and-run. I hate when people act like it was my fault. For any asshole that doesn't know how to drive, who wants to damage my vehicle, I don't have a couple of thousand dollars lying around for repairs. I drove off slightly more pissed and even more unthreatened than the night before.

The more I thought about it the more pissed I got. It didn't help sitting for 10 minutes for a passing train either. The cops have got the wrong guy here. I don't speed or break any laws. When I finally did get to my wife's work, I had her check the light to make sure I wasn't mistaking. The light was working. The only thing was some of the tape was loose and exposing the white lights. I was really pissed then.

Today, getting back from hell (finals) I talked to this (pardon me) white guy who tells me he had the morning from hell because he got a ticket. Now, this bastard says he's been pulled over 19 times (!) and this is his first ticket. He's the kind of guy that does 85 in a school zone when the light is blinking, for real. I've been pulled over for silly shit like my light and gotten tickets for not making a complete stop before exiting a parking lot. Now, the cops have seriously got the wrong bad guys here.

I think what they call this is compensatory justice. Where the rules a skewed in favor to the ruling class. This means, it serves no purpose to put another white man in his place. Am I wrong? Tell me so, but I'll just give you more evidence. The white man is not the bad guy to himself (this could be anyone kind of person, including subdivisions in the white race), so things like speeding tickets don't do anything to improve society in his eye. It's stopping people like me (black) that makes a difference. They think it shows us that the police are no joke, they're not messin around. They want us to fear them. They don't want to do this to their own kind. Well, they do their job alot of the time. Often I can't look someone of another race in the eye or say something a certain way without me thinking they will peg me as a thug or a crook.

When you see people like Will Smith in movies and Jamie Foxx winning oscars, you would think things have changed. Matter of fact is, things really ain't changed much under the surface of what we see on TV. They treat my six-year-old son like a criminal for acting like a typical kindergardener. If he was white, he would be mischievious. A Dennis the Menace, but since he's black, he's a part of the future prison population. I can hardly go into Blockbuster without being watched. I get followed in Oshman's even when I was wearing my Security Officer uniform. People scrutinize my idea when I use credit cards.

Excuse me, but no excuse me, sometimes America is a bitch. Blacks or even the poor blacks are not the real criminals. It's the politicians. It's the people who in order to keep themselves rich, they keep wages low to make slaves, and real estate high, so we can't own land. Why can't everyone own a house with a big backyard? After all around 90% of the entire US's land is unsettled! Somebody check the facts.

Food porn

Food porn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Food porn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Food Porn is a term for a spectacular visual
presentation of cooking
or eating in adverts,
infomercials,
cooking shows or other visual media. The most notable example may
be Iron Chef, which
has very little educational value, but scores remarkably high on
the visual spectacle of cooking, cooking implements and the
ingredients of food preparation. In much the same way that pornography can be a
vicarious substitute for actual sexual relations, 'food porn' is
seen as a substitute for actually cooking and eating the food in
question. Similarly, in much the same way that pornography may
display feats of performance that average people would not attempt,
'food porn' sometimes features exotic ingredients and excessively
elaborate recipes and preparation.

Food Porn is also sometimes used to refer to food that
is very high in calories or a poor nutritional choice. The Hardee's Monster Thickburger is a notable
example. This usage is commonly used, and perhaps coined, by the
Center for Science in
the Public Interest."

I'll be damn. I guess anything can be porn. It doesn't have to be aout nudity or sex at all.

Damn mice!

I have mice occasionally in my apartment. I probably doesn't help much that it's next to an open field. I usually get rid of them with traps. Rectently, I couldn't find the open face glue traps, so I got the no see kind of glue traps that kind of box them in. They don't work. Of the two mice I've seen, one was too big. I saw him get caught in it, but not well enough and escaped. Every time afterward the bastard would go around. There was a smaller one that got caught and was quickly disposed, and another which I hadn't seen before.

Now this bigger one. He's an asshole. He'll come right out in the open instead of running along the walls and eat any chance crumbs that my kids may have dropped on the floor. If I'm slick enough I'll try to throw something at him. Most of the time, he's so quick if I don't have something extremely close at hand, he'll be undercover before I can move.

The other day, I clapped real loud when he came out all bold. Sent the SOB two inches into the air! I figured now that I had him shook, my best bet would be to chase him out of the closet. I seen him run once behind a card table I had in there, but when I moved it, he wasn't there. So I empty all this junk out, jabbing my broom in the back corner, knowing he had to be in there. I wasn't hitting anything, so I took out the rest of the stuff...only to find he wasn't there. That was some crap straight out of Green Mile! I was pissed. I felt so defeated, I still haven't picked up most of the mess (or maybe I'm just lazy).

Today, now that I'm studying for my Chemistry final, here he came again. This time the chewing was loud. I tossed a green battery cover to a toy I had at hand and actually got him pretty square. Not stopping there, I figured I could chase him out of the boiler closet. I went in there poking and jabbing. Next thing, he's running out of there full speed. I half heartedly stamped at him, I really didn't want to crush him in my house shoes. I nearly got him with the broom handle though. Into the pantry we continued, I almost had him trapped behind a glass bowl. Just as I nearly corner him, he ran out. Behind the refrigerator I chased him, then behind the stove. I tried forcing him out with roach spray, but that didn't work. I heated up the broiler, I don't know what that would do, but I thought it might help. Some repositioning of the stove and a few pokes, I could've sworn I say streaks of grey run past my feet, but after that I couldn't see much. Well, that's it.

I'm gonna have to find some open face traps or get some mouse poison. Only problem with mouse poison is I don't want mice rotting in my apartment.

This is what is on my iPod.

My iPod Engraving
Originally uploaded by Ashiedu Nwadiei.

This is what's on my iPod. BS, but I wanted a famous philosophy quote on there. I'm as hell of it. I couldn't put curse words on it if I wanted to anyway.


Custom Modified Colors for iPod Minis Exclusively at J&R

Chemistry: WebElements Periodic Table

I'm studying for my Chemistry final. My teacher, Frank Smentowski, is not a bad guy, but he's not a very good teacher. Most of the stuff I learned this semester was on my own. But with all the other classes I had, I didn't have much time to teach myself The Principles of Chemistry. I won't be surprised if I have to repeat this class. Anyway, you need a complete periodic table, complete with audio descriptions, go here. Chemistry: WebElements Periodic Table

Affiliates

I just found out today that Target.com refused my application to become an affiliate because of any number of reasons:

* Promote sexually explicit materials
* Promote violence or hate toward any persons or groups
* Promote discrimination based on race, sex, age, religion, nationality, disability or sexual orientation
* Promote illegal activities
* Promote tobacco or gambling
* Contain, in our sole judgment, material that is defamatory, fraudulent or harassing
* Misrepresent themselves as a Target Web site by using the "look and feel" of or text from our site
* Include "Target" or variations or misspellings thereof in their domain names
* Otherwise violate intellectual property rights of Target or its affiliates
* Do not clearly state an online privacy policy to their visitors
* Require a user name and password to access
* Are non-US based sites or are sites that primarily serve a non-US based audience
* Are unable to direct a reasonable amount of traffic by way of sales volume, clicks and page views to our site
* Otherwise are considered (in our sole judgment) offensive or inappropriate
* Link to or provide a portion of their commission or affiliate benefits to sites or organizations that violate any of the above criteria.

As far as I know, my site blog doesn't do any of those things. My other affiliates don't seem to think so anyway. Does that mean that Target has a higher moral standard than Wal-mart? Wal-mart barely had an approval process.