My review is backwards and perhaps more appropriate a review for 90 percent of the potential viewing audience of Watchmen as 90 percent of movie goers to Watchmen will not have first read the book; and this is a good thing. That is I may be the only person to watch Watchmen and then read the book. In addition, I'm part of the graphic novel collective in that I do know a great deal about comic book characters from the days of the Death of Superman and Batman having his back broken by Bane and the Spider-Man clone saga to the recent Marvel Civil War series. But somehow I missed Watchmen years ago and never had the notion to read it.
There was a lot of hype about this film. To call it ambitious is wrong. It really is an accessible film based on one of the greatest graphic novels ever written and this is the real problem many may experience in trying to enjoy this film; the hype. For instance when I saw the first trailer almost a full year before the film's release it depicted Dr. Manhattan and Silk Specter II standing in a time piece the size of a tall building in what appeared to be a desert. It cut to a nuclear explosion where Night Owl and Silk Specter II were both about to be wiped out. I figured, "Another trailer ruining a plot line". But I was wrong and the hokeyness of the scenes was a mistake in movie reveals if you ask me because in the end, I was wrong about everything I assumed before watching the film. I'll get to that.
What is Watchmen? Why is it so relevant and important to comic book readers throughout time? Watchmen is the first story to deconstruct, analyze and look at Super Heroes from a non-fictional point-of-view. It takes you into what you could call realism of a super hero. It takes an extreme idealistic personality to be one and these types of people are not the type to just 'fit in' with the general public. What would be the implications of actually having super heroes in our society? Have you ever asked yourself, "Why couldn't they just write that Superman flew over to Russia and dismantled all their nuclear war heads (and America's for that matter)." What if super heroes served nations in war? What are the implications of a super hero destroying public property? And yes we've seen that social commentary play out in the Disney Pixar family film, The Incredibles. You could say The Incredibles owes its original idea to stories such as Watchmen. So while you may read reviews stating Watchmen is not worth watching because of its similarities to The Incredibles, the fact is Watchmen was written 20 years prior and was for all intents and purposes the original idea stolen by Pixars writers. You see, ... more»
Last night I'm out having some laughs with friends. A couple friends from where I worked at A&F and some friends from the gym with girlfriends in tow. We are at of all places the roller rink. Yucking it up and laughing the antics of kids, all of the sudden some 12 year old boy smacks my friend's girlfriend on the ass as he skates by. Now this young boy isn't all good looking. He has no ladies man look, nor the build of an athlete in the making. He's quite plain if not homely.
A short while later... whack, he smacks her on the ass again. My friends decide to teach him a lesson. So we sit her down on a bench and have her wave to him so he thinks she's into him. He rolls over and after a few minutes I tell the boyfriend... now you gotta go over and scare the bejesus out of him, "What are you doing with my girlfriend!" So he's like, "Nothing man!" It was funny. But wouldn't you know it he didn't give it up. Later he's skating by, and looking at her constantly. So they now have her give this kid another girls phone number and tell him to call later. We have a few laughs and forget about it.
Now he's skating around and thinking he's a total hot shot. I'm thinking to myself, "we made a monster out of him".
My friends now enlist my son. They ask him to skate the final couples skate with her and I was proud that my son was a complete gentleman about the whole thing. He didn't know what to make of it but they explained they wanted to teach some kid a lesson. Well sure enough this little squirt was ... more»
Men are what they are. We desire women sexually. While some men don't have the same level of desire for a woman as other men do, our genetic make-up has that underlying desire to procreate. What you as a woman are firmly aware of is that once that need is met, we can't be controlled by you.
This is one reason why women hold out on sex with men for a period of time. You can extract more from us. But I advise in the confines of a relationship, you should not want to hold out; not entirely. You need to strike a balance. And frankly if you have found a good man or mate, you should both want to participate in the act on balance.
IS IT ALL ABOUT SEX WITH MEN?
OK you are saying "Why does it have to be all about sex with men?" The good news is that it's not. It really isn't all about sex. The fact is--sex is what?...2% of a relationship in terms of the time you spend together? It makes up a small part of the time we spend together but that 2% is a powerful and intensely packed 2%. Get it? I hope so, because if you can't understand this, you'll just be angry and think less of men when all you really need to do is understand us. By now you are most likely understanding our maker designed us to desire women initially from a physical point of view. Conversely our maker made women to desire men overall from ... more»
Dating or meeting someone new can be more than an adventure. It can be something you've never done or done so long ago that you really have lost touch with the art of meeting people.
As a successful dater (I know it sounds like I'm bragging - I'm not), I'd like to share with women some important tips to meeting a man. Then again, maybe meeting him is not the problem, it's getting past that crucial first few minutes and letting him know you are interested. After all its the first 2 to 4 minutes people decide if there is attraction between them.
THOSE FIRST FEW MINUTES
Maybe you've gotten past initial attraction and you've come to sending out the right signs of what kind of relationship you desire. Friends with benefits? Short term extracurricular activities, a boyfriend or husband? Here is what I know and perhaps you know too but you were unsure of with one hundred percent assurance. Now you can be confident in these truths.
Let's start with flirting. Should you really call it flirting? It's desire. And hiding your desire is a mistake. No I'm not saying come off desperate. I'm saying if you like him, then talk to him. A man should likewise know that if you are not engaged in talking to him, he should move on, but that's another advice article for men so I'm not going to dive into that subject matter any deeper than this ...It means for smart men with heads on their shoulders, they will know that if you allow a conversation to wane, they'll read that as a sign of "I don't want to embarrass myself, I need to turn and get back to the guys". Now he's walked away and you have little chance of returning to a meaningful conversation let alone hook-up. So yes, the first thing is as basic as breathing, talk to him.
WE ARE ALL SHALLOW
Next, is understand that men and women are ... more»
You know sometimes you run into a rude person. They say mean things to you and they could be true, they could be made up, but the intent is the same either way; they want to hurt you with words. I've often said, "Just because it is true, doesn't mean you should say it." Sure thing, the truth hurts. And I can say one thing for certain, I've saved a lot of people from a lot of pain. <grin>
In my short life I've learned the art of biting my tongue. Sometimes it's just eating crow. Sometimes it's a matter of biding my time. Sometimes it is a matter of just archiving the info and knowing who your enemies are.
But in every case its been to my advantage to just keep my trap shut. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer" is one thought that comes to mind. "Your mouth is your enemy" is another. There are times when I'm in arguments; one sided arguments. They are giving me a piece of their mind and I look like a coward for simply staying on defense. I know it is at those times if I attack with my own words, I'm tipping my hand.
Then there are times you are involved in a disagreement that may be no more than a misunderstanding. Losing your cool and saying anything you would regret later just creates a divide.
Of course there are also the situations that are more complex. Some people you think are out to hurt you are really out to help you. This of course means that diametrically some people you think are out to help you are really out to hurt you. It's important to say little and piece it all together.
At times we encounter people in organizations or circles where we find people that don't like us. When such a person confronts me, the last thing to do is let them know anything. I mean ANYTHING. I let these people run their mouth and chronicle it all in my mind. This is a hard learned art form. Let's face it we are human and it is easy to get into a verbal gunfight.
I could have responded in like manner and said things that were true, and hurtful.I can be one of the most aggravating smart asses I know.I know because I respond to some things I read or have said to me, in my mind and while my internal responses are true and factual they would hurt feelings if I said them alloud.I’m not into that.Sure, push me and I can get rude.So while I’m as human as the next person, I understand what character is. Just know that sooner or later I will respond to attacks and the person on the recieving end will not like the words I choose as they will be as embarrassing as they are truthful.
What do you get when you lie to people then condemn them for being gullible enough to believe you? Exposed. In what took days to evolve completely, Jon Stewart delivered the coup d’état when Jim Cramer visited the Daily Show.
This was not a fight. This was an educated and mature discussion with some mature language in which Jon Stewart stood up for every American and shows Networks such as CNBC are more interested in reporting instead of investigative reporting.
The old is old and over, the new has just begun And standing in the rain never felt so much like the sun
Once again today, I give you words of instinct that are my words.
I'd like to share a story behind them. They are from a poem, a song and story I've written. The poem became the song Tears I Won't Cry. The story is Aeroplane City.
Those two verses have been profound to me for a long time you might say. I think I recall being inspired by an old Jules Shear song where he sang, "I know I can last but I don't think it matters." Which is kind of sad I know but very poignant to me. And I realize as you read that line and compare "and standing in the rain never felt so much like the sun" to what Jules wrote there is little connection for you. But as you have known for some time, my mind travels fast through its train of thought. The key to understanding how I think is that I know my life to be a paradox.
You see, in the absence of having lived without, you can't appreciate what you have. Therefore being denied happiness makes the joy of obtaining it that much sweeter.
Vanilla Sky almost ruined this secret philosophy that I falsely believed was my own with it's running theme of ... more»
Look, a blog is no more than a personal web site. It is autonomy. I chose to name my blog my name so no one else would. I could have named my blog a number of cool short names. But personally I knew my personal name was more valuable. I refuse to let anyone else define me.
Enter MySpace, then Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, Tumblr, even Linked In (which I think has relevance in the business world). They all consume each other. They via for your attention and distract you from the other. Eventually one makes the other irrelevant and everyone jumps ship to the next fad.
Worse yet all these social networking sites... as much as they let you express yourself, they don't allow you to have have own true identity. You are in essence an extension of MySpace or Twitter or whatever is hip this month.
But your own site, a blog --which is short for Web Log offers you autonomy. Long term, so long that when the MySpace's and Facebooks of the world are gone, your blog or my case, my blog will still be around. If I want it to.
OK... gotta go. I need to go twitter my girlfriend to stop Plaxo'ing my best friend so my boss doesn't find it on Linked In. LOL
I penned a poem once where I struggled with the loss of love. I wrote to her, "I've separated myself from you without separating my own heart". We give our hearts to the people we enter into a relationship with. It is as if your heart never really belongs to you. It's a hard pill to swallow. When we lose a relationship, our heart is still in the past, belonging to someone that does not deserve it; they certainly do not want it. It is as if we must find someone new to give it to.
I often wonder if love is like a limited energy resource. There is only so much of it to give and if you don't nurture it, one day it dies; never to be given again. more»
Honest people tell the truth even when they don't like the probable consequences. That's what honesty means. That's how trust is earned. Doing the right thing is not always a popular thing. Honest people are never looking for points in either direction. Honest people owe nothing to no one except to their own self. more»
An object in motion tends to stay in motion... What motivates us? What in our lives provides us the power to achieve? Determination; but motivation is what comes into play when determination falters.
Every day we wake up from bed and we have goals, battles, tasks and more. Some things must be done, other things we hope to do. To what end do we achieve these things? How much do we care? Do we not care?
Think of people such as Hollywood stars, or athletes that seemingly have it all. Think of politicians in the spotlight or simply just a business owner that has reached the pinnacle of their trade? Did they just fall into these greater lives or were they highly motivated? What kept them motivated? There are people we see around us in our jobs that are one, two or many steps ahead of us and we may envy them. Do you accept your role or do you want more? And when you do want more, what do you use for motivation?
I understand the importance of setting goals, small and large and moving towards them. Yet so many days of the year I wake up without the desire to reach that end goal. Some days I need motivation.
The other day I was watching an action movie. I saw the protagonist working hard, music in the soundtrack proving he was up to his task and the energy was there. I about wanted to get up and go skate and lift weights and in my mind I saw my self getting stronger with every push, every lift. It was amusing. But it was also motivating. That burst of interest and energy made me think. What an unusual means of motivation had taken place with me.
When a guy is dating a woman that he really cares to be with and values her, his is motivated to please her because the fear of loss is greater than ... more»
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lars Hindsley is a self-employed single full time father, a writer, a non conservative Republican, a reformed idealist (a compromisationalist), ex-musician, God fearing cynic that could more easily be described in two words as a "Rugged Intellectual".
Lars writings range from "how to" articles to commentaries and advice. You'll find movie reviews and video picks of the day side by side with serious writings.
Lars offers perspective from an Anglo-Christian moral position while never lording over anyone unlike himself. Lars is of the opinion that if you are going to complain, you should offer a solution. His perspective on the world is that many of us fight societal evolution to frustrating ends without a genuine understanding of what it is we are all up against.
Reading his articles should provide you with positive energy towards living out your day. You may not be able to change the world but you can navigate it to live a rich and rewarding life. Enjoy Lars’ works, there are years of writings to choose from.
Seed Newsvine
My review is backwards and perhaps more appropriate a review for 90 percent of the potential viewing audience of Watchmen as 90 percent of movie goers to Watchmen will not have first read the book; and this is a good thing. That is I may be the only person to watch Watchmen and then read the book. In addition, I'm part of the graphic novel collective in that I do know a great deal about comic book characters from the days of the Death of Superman and Batman having his back broken by Bane and the Spider-Man clone saga to the recent Marvel Civil War series. But somehow I missed Watchmen years ago and never had the notion to read it. 
The good people at Spark did a feature our Delaware Skaters Club. 
