Archive for the ‘Anarchy Journal Constitutional’ Category

#Rampage Defends Pro Wrestling’s Honor

Posted: February 12, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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potatoshooterlogosportsrollby @anarchyroll
2/21/2014

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is one of the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Undeniably one of the greatest knockout artists the sport has ever seen even if his place in the overall pantheon is questioned. Jackson is also a lifelong fan of professional wrestling. Jackson recently defended pro wrestling’s legitimacy from its haters.

Calling pro wrestling fake is outdated. The correct term is pre determined. The correct term is wrestling is live entertainment like theater or exhibition stunt shows. Theater actors get injured on stage, stunt people get injured on movie sets, and neither group works three hundred plus days a year like professional wrestlers do. If they do, they’re not getting their bodies thrown onto plywood covered by insulation padding and canvas.

Rampage isn’t the only highly successful mixed martial artist to defend the legitimacy of pro wrestling and pro wrestlers. On episode four of The Steve Austin Show, Chael Sonnen talked about how when he needed to get serious about his cardio, he went and trained with pro wrestlers.

No wrestling fan over the age of ten thinks that they are seeing a sporting event. But last I checked, plenty of people go and see concerts to hear songs they already know the lyrics to, pack movie theaters to see fictional events played out in spectacular fashion, and Photoshop the hell out of realistic photos to make them more pleasing to the eye.

Pro wrestling is entertainment, it is a simulated, exhibition combat sporting event with a predetermined winner. It’s where the NFL meets Broadway. A synergy of live sports and live theater. But those bumps and high spots you see that make you pop hurt. Those muscled up bodies you see taking said bumps take years of discipline and dedication in gyms to form. Those larger than life characters and emotionally gripping verbal exchanges take lifetimes of preparation to execute to perfection.

So have some fucking respect. Pro athletes from the NFL, NHL, NBA habitually talk about how pro wrestlers are the best athletes on the planet because they don’t have an offseason. 300 plus days a year on the road. A band that literally never stops touring except if they get physically injured beyond what band aids and pain killers can mask.

Still think pro wrestlers can’t hold a lick to real fighters. Then I’ve got two words for ya,  Brock Lesnar.

#AmericanHustle & #MonumentsMen #Movie #Reviews

Posted: February 12, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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MM@C4Logo1ajclogo2

by @anarchyroll
2/11/2014

I have been thinking about a culture and entertainment blog. I don’t have a logo for it yet, though I do have a name. In the past, not having a logo led to me not writing/blogging which was a mistake. I am trying to not repeat the same mistakes over and over. So, since I have seen two movies in a movie theater two weeks in a row for the first time in around two years, and enjoyed both of them, I feel a blog about them is warranted. Let’s go!

American Hustle (click images to view trailers) has gotten a great deal of praise and Oscar buzz. I found many similarities between this movie and The Monuments Men. Both are based on true stories. Both have all star casts. Both are classic Hollywood cinema pieces. The Monuments Men however has been getting shit on by critics where as American Hustle is all roses.

I enjoyed both movies equally. I was more emotionally moved by The Monuments Men, probably more entertained by American Hustle. As someone who has formally studied film, I just don’t see why one is considered an Oscar front runner and the other is a one or two star POS. Both films are formulaic. Both stand on the shoulders of genre pieces that have come before them and do nothing to reinvent the wheel. Both are almost exclusively dialog based. Both have happy endings. Both are well acted, well produced, and have quality musical scores.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and personal opinion is not to be confused with law of the land. When it comes to pop culture, even very smart, educated, sophisticated people become immature, ignorant, thick headed bitches. This principle is clearly at play here. I enjoyed both  movies. Are either the best film made in 2013-2014? Maybe, depends what your fancy is. I have an equal bias between Bill Murray and Bradley Cooper, they’re both on my hero wall. Perhaps the acting in American Hustle is more intense in one on one scenes, but the ensemble piece paradigm is executed very well in Monuments Men.

I personally enjoyed a WWII movie that was low on nausea induced action scenes. I also enjoyed a movie about New York in the 70s that didn’t involve physical mountains of cocaine and heroin being ingested by the main characters. I enjoyed the historical significance of both of the real people/situations each movie is based on. Both are fresh but familiar, a unique spin on classic American movie formulas. Both are worth a watch, neither is worthy of being confused for the messiah of film and neither tries to be that despite what the lovers and haters of each might have you believe.

Neither depends on the theatre experience so enjoy them on a night in when they get to Netflix. I give them both three stars and recommend the critics of each chill the fuck out. They’re movies, not economic inequality, war, or famine. If you have the luxury of being able to go through the processes of watching a movie, be happy, and enjoy either or both of these quality flicks.

#Election Judge Training Restored My Faith in #Democracy

Posted: February 11, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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ajclogo2

by @anarchyroll
2/10/2014

Much like the politicians who are running for the elections I will be a judge for, I’m doing it for the money.

I showed up the a suburban library to get a once over of the basic information that involves being an election judge. It was given in a combination Powerpoint fueled verbal presentation, a bound packet, and an interactive dry run of our duties. It started at 10 am, not an ungodly early time of day so I went in rested and somewhere between optimistic and pessimistic.

I was clearly the only person under the age of 50 in the room. I noticed this by both sight and smell. Old man stink for days. The first half hour could have easily been confused for the senior citizen throat clearing Olympics. The guy to my left took home the gold in that regard.

However, the two very nice, very proficient women in charge of the presentation stuffed my pessimism in a sack mister. They knew what they were talking about, were not dependent on the Powerpoint slides, answered every question asked without skipping a beat, and gave us a bathroom break at the exact right moment. Kudos to you ladies.

Besides the knowledge that the state of Illinois was hiring smart, savvy, experienced people to train those at the local election level, I was impressed by the infrastructure of fail safes, paper trails, and laws to attempt to prevent voting shennanigans.  I certainly can’t speak for states with electronic voting machines from the Diebold corporation, because Illinois uses paper ballets that are first verified by two sets of eyes, then a computer, then rechecked by multiple sets of eyes before being mailed in sealed containers, before they are electronically scanned, then checked by multiple sets of eyes again to verify authenticity of individual voter and election result.

The process of checking to make sure everything on the level at a polling place in Illinois is very much like the organizational structure of a casino. We were done by 1 pm. We have the option of taking additional online proficiency exams and training, for extra pay in return for that extra work. If only the government itself had competent people like the ones I encountered today, in office. If only the government operated with a little more time efficiency and a little less old man throat clearing.  If only the agencies and social safety nets had logical infrastructure in place like ones I learned about today. If those things were so, maybe voter turnout would equal or be higher than that of American Idol.

Now, which one of you assholes stole my tumbler while I was in bathroom after class ended?

#NFL Fantasy Football Redisctricting

Posted: February 9, 2014 in Anarchy Journal Constitutional
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sportsroll

by @anarchyroll
2/9/2014

It’s the first Sunday with no football in almost seven months and I’m frightened. What am I supposed to do, interact with the outside world? Yikes. Next thing you know, you’ll be saying I should read a book and exercise instead of binge watching stuff I’ve already seen on Netflix and YouTube. HA! Good luck with that, now pass the deep fried Twinkies, pessimism, and self loathing. I gots some imagining to do.

With that spirit in mind, someone on Reddit came up with a way for the NFL to realign its divisions to be more, logical and efficient.  For a league always looking to increase revenues, this would be a way to do so by reducing costs. Think of how much time, money, and resources would be saved by not having the teams in the NFC East travel to and from Dallas, Texas.

Think of how much more intense rivalries would become with all three teams in the states of California, Florida, and New York playing each other twice a year. Attendance, ratings, and local bar revenues would surely go up.

I’m from Chicago, my division (NFC North) wouldn’t change at all because it’s the only one laid out logically in the present alignment. Though I may have added the Colts to the North and moved the Lions to the East in the same vein of what the NHL did to the Red Wings.

If only the NFL hadn’t redistricted in the last ten years, this well laid out plan by someone with too much free time and not enough priorities on their hands might be plausible to be enacted. I fully endorse this redistricting and so should trade organizations and lobbyists for bars, restaurants, memorabilia makers, and local television providers. Because the NFL is all about dollars and cents. There is plenty more of both to be made with the divisions laid out above and action should be taken accordingly for the good of the fans, and of course the pocket books of those in power.

#Verizon Donates 8 Hours of Revenue

Posted: February 9, 2014 in Excess and Algorithms
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eanda logoby @anarchyroll
2/9/2014

$100 million dollars is a lot of money. A big round number that looks especially good in a press release touting charitable contributions. When a company makes $4.6 billion each financial quarter however, that $100 million sounds a little less charitable. When the people receive the charity are saying they don’t need the money, they need better infrastructure and a cheaper bill, well, welcome to America.

In an excellent piece written for the  Washington Post, Brian Fung very politely writes why the nine figure monetary donation is bullshit. Again, he puts it much more politely than I. After all, what good are a bunch of iPads if the school either doesn’t have broadband or can’t afford it? Which is plenty of schools, not just the ones in the ghettos are facing.

Have you noticed your internet bill going down in the last decade? Exactly, imagine what a municipal internet bill is. No such thing as a free lunch. If we charge people to not die of cancer, what hope do kids who want to save their homework to the cloud have?

Good thing we have a socialist, liberal, communist, democratic president in office whose going to stick it to the billion dollar corporations to help the schools out right? Spoiler alert, Obama has is a moderate conservative. Nothing has been asked or demanded of the telcomm companies to provide free or even discounted rates on new infrastructure or service to schools in rural areas of America or in impoverished urban areas either (both of which still run on dial up in some cases).

$100 million is a lot of money, but when that is how much money is made in 8 out of 8,765 hours of operation, it’s a token gesture meant to distract and distort. Nothing more, nothing less. Not to mention we haven’t talked about the students who go to school starving for food, not for playing Candy Crush during home room.

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