Wednesday, December 6, 2017

The History that Can Be Found in Pokemon Part 2

Kinkakuji
(12/06/2017) --- Hello everyone, lets talk about Pokemon Gold and Silver; with the release of them in the Virtual Console during this year. One aspect that changed drastically on Gold & and Silver was the re-tooling of the universe setting of Pokemon itself, it was how history was rewritten to fit more the narrative of a fantastical that could be ours but it was reshaped by the events on how the Pokemon's affected the ecosystem and socioeconomic settings of that "Earth".

Burned Tower
The  Burned Tower (1) is one of the iconic locations on the second generation as it parallels the Kinkakuji or Golden Pavillion (2) in which the mythos of The Three Legendary Beasts take places as they were resurrected by a Phoenix after they perished on the tower which mimics on a certain extent Kinkakuji that burned numeros times but opposite to the tower in Pokemon, the Zen temple was reconstructed several times.

Structural and interior wise both locations are far different from each other; if we analyze the interior of the Ecruteak City there aren't any clear similar points, at least on the First Generation and Second Generation; but if we see the designs that were used on the Fourth Generation we could have an idea that the Shinden, Samurai and Zen styles were heavily influenced towards the design of the towers as if they were placed as monuments where enlightening can be achieved.

An idea of religion can be seen again, there are mostly Shintoist and Buddhist influences on the Johto region, which there is a connection towards nature and some of humans from that Johto seem to find a connection between themselves and nature, which seems to be a focal point during the gameplay of Generation 2.

Japanese Castle Plans
The towers look more similar to a castle; the evidence are more prominent on Generation Four, the main difference lies within the lore of the game that mention the towers were built to foster friendship between people and Pokemon (3) but structural wise, the tower could be seen more as a castle due the different levels, design in the hallways, the basement and exterior structure.

The towers concept remind me more of the Matsumoto Castle (4) due the content of several levels as well the last level being held by the lord of the fortress; at least in my opinion the design of the games reflects a mix version of different holds beyond the Gold Pavillion but it contains Ho-Ho on the top as the Phoenix that is seen in Kinkakuji.

One aspect that is quite interesting to see in the second generation of games is butoh (5) and kabuki which we can say is a complex form of dance theater can be seen on Ecruteak City Dance Hall and with the class trainers: Kimono Girls who handle the Eevee's as part of their dance routines but also to execute battles with any challenger.

References:

  1. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia: Burned Tower - https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Burned_Tower
  2. Web retrieved: Japan Guide - Kinkakuji (Golden Pavillion) - https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3908.html
  3. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia: Burned Tower - https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Burned_Tower
  4. Web retrieved: Wikipedia - Matsumoto Castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_Castle
  5. Web retrieved: Wikipedia - Butoh : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butoh

Thursday, November 30, 2017

My Brother's Husband Volume One Review

My Brother's Husband Vol.1 Cover
(11/28/2017) --- This piece of manga is quite heartbreaking, and only in America was released in 2017 (Anime News Network), one aspect that is fascinated about this manga is that it was created by the most prolific bondage and sado-masochism mangaka Gengoroh Tagame (Wikipedia).

What it can be a catalyst of the story is the rejection of one character identity and orientation and how it turned to transform a family dynamic. The story centers around Yaichi, a divorced, stay-at-home father who runs a business of leasing apartments that he inherited from his parents while taking care of his daughter Kana.

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Spoilers
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What we learn through the reading is that Yaichi is far away from being the perfect father or even the best brother; as he shunned his late estranged brother Ryoji, but his life turned upside down when Ryoji's widower a tall Canadian "bear" named Mike Flannigan; Yaichi's interaction with Mike are quite strained due Yaichi's internalized homophobia which he tries to channel to his daughter, but his daughter seem to be more open to idea of having an uncle in her life than having none.

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End of Spoilers
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The story itself is quite heartwarming and even on volume one shows some of the dynamics that LGBT+ families face on a daily, the story's setting can be set in Japan but they can be seen almost anywhere in the world. Much of the art within the character designs aims towards Gengoroh preference of drawing beefcakes (Wikipedia) and bears (Wikipedia) which can be seen towards the archetypes of Mike and Yaichi; there is some connotations about homo-eroticism and repression that are aimed to Yaichi.

There are more elements towards the Bara genre but they are quite subtle, almost imperceptible as they are shown as implications but not rather as profuse as how Gengoroh showed them on his seminal work The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, in which there was bloody violence mixed with some hardcore gay sexy; mostly the style of the design is influenced by Gengoroh's unique approach towards the creation of his cartoon that has an influence taken from Bill Ward.

The family dynamics in certain way are complicated but are extremely lighthearted, as not all the time there is acceptance between the partners and families; especially when there is a deceased family member who never met acceptance from his family (Renna, Cathy), even the outcomes for young LGBT to find some stability become grim without any proper support network, whenever there is incidence for depression, risk of HIV and the use of illegal drugs as well suicide.

There is some symbolism as well some really open scenes in which Yaichi can't hold his curiosity for Mike, as well hesitating about his own sexuality; such as moments where Mike and him go to the gym and found each other attracted to each other but Yaichi doesn't know how to cope with the feelings about that he can be possible a closeted gay man,

Some moments in the story of the first volume, there are hints that Yaichi could be closeted as he had a tumultuous marriage, but also within the epigenetics there could be an incidence and Yaichi was repressing himself up to the point that he expressed homophobia towards his own brother due social factors (Balter, Michael).

Ryoji is probably the central figure on the manga, could it be set as the unseen narrator in which he sets the events that happened after his death but also how homophobia influenced the last 10 years of his life, such as family in Japan and Canada and how died. His story itself is quite tragic as it seemed to be aimed to reconcile with his brother and go back to Japan to meet his young niece but the idea of traveling never happened.

How the tragic story between her uncles probably influenced Kana to look personal relationships in another way, as she seemed to be excited but homophobia also took a toll on her when her friends didn't wanted to meet her uncle due their parents interaction after she mentioned him being a gay man (Chamberlin, Shelby).

Another emotional aspect seen within the content is how Mike copes with the lost of his husband, trying to know the places he and Yaichi used to hang out when they were younger. The context of homophobia could be placed almost anywhere outside Japan, mostly being set in a conservator society in which it can lead any person to leave their country and their family in the sake of finding something better for themselves.

References:


  1. Web retrieved: Anime News Network ; Pantheon to Publish Gengoroh Tagame My Brother's Husband Manga: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-09-19/pantheon-to-publish-gengoroh-tagame-my-brother-husband-manga/.106639
  2. Web retrieved: Wikipedia - Gengoroh Tagame Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gengoroh_Tagame
  3. Web retrieved: Wikipedia - Beefcake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beefcake
  4. Web retrieved: Wikipedia - Bears: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_(gay_culture)
  5. Web retrieved: Renna, Cathy - Family Rejection... Family Acceptance Project: https://familyproject.sfsu.edu/news-announce/family-rejection-lesbian-gay-and-bisexual-adolescents-negative-health-outcomes
  6. Web retrieved: Balter, Michael; Homosexuality May Be Caused by Chemical Modifications to the DNA - Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/10/homosexuality-may-be-caused-chemical-modifications-dna
  7. Web retrieved: Chamberlin, Shelby - The Effects of Lesbian and Gay Parenting on Children's Development:  https://cola.unh.edu/sites/cola.unh.edu/files/student-journals/ShelbyChamberlin.pdf


Monday, September 18, 2017

Monument Valley 2 Game Review

Monument Valley 2
(9/17/2017) --- I love Monument Valley, first part and second part. The game is not only visually astounding, the puzzles are fun, the art is amazing much as it incorporates tessalations and hyperbolic geometry; also there are metaphisical elements such as the idea of life and death and mother - daughter bond about growing up and finding your own path.

The second part continues with the formula as the first game, it follows a new character named Ro and her daughter in which they come in terms that different generations can't work without each other but also we grow as our parents start to get older.

There is a beautiful symbolism towards the game, a beautiful story that is told without words, as well the perception into reaching the sacred geometry (1) as a form of spiritual growth.

As the first game there aren't many inferences of dialogue that can be a concrete point on the story; much of the story is just left to the player's imagination and how they interpret the symbolism within each puzzle and each scenario.

Sailing away
Within the interpretation of the story, there is a point in which I saw the game could be taken as from the narrative of Ro's daugther when she embarked into her journey of development through the different mazes that compose the sacred geometry.

One aspect of the game that it takes the charm is that is too short; it can be completed within a couple of hours and there is not enough difficulty that can challenge the player; but the difficulty is the least, the part that makes the game less enjoyable is the length. I wish if there is a third part, it could take more time to defeat, more time to enjoy and more time to appreciate the beautiful M.C. Escher inspire scenarios.

The tessellations (3) that are a core element of the games give  a very unique distinct future on the aesthetics, the minimalism that is inspired from the Japanese art are the elements of the gameplay that set from other games in the market. It is quite easy to spot the art of any of the two games.

The forced perspective and every aspect that seems to defy the Newtonian Laws of Physic, can make a player imagination spark towards the adventure, albeit the narrative in which the timelines collide is what gives the game a new meaning on to tell a story with little or no words.

What would you do with time? If you can manipulate it and be able to revive the days you lived long ago?  Would you go and think about your mistakes, the old friendships that you had, what would you do? To fix it the mistakes or to go and continue with your life, even if time is fixed and even if you could revive those moments, those moments are just mere memories.



Reference: 


  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_geometry
  2. https://ustwo.com/work/monument-valley
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessellation

Monday, September 11, 2017

Little Witch Academia Feminism Influences

Little Witch 
(9/10/2017) --- This is such a cute animation movie as well a television show (1), I was hesitant at first as I feel it could be just a rip-off of almost any other magical girl show or Harry Potter; but the show is so charming and cute, even the movies are quite adorable.

To give a small synopsis, the show is about the misadventures of a first generation witch named Atsuko "Akko" Kagari as she enrolls in the school of Nova Luna Academy (2) to fulfill her dream of meeting her idol Shiny Chariot and to be in the campus that she also studied; but, Shiny Chariot is nowhere to be found.

There are some elements that the show reminds me of Harry Potter; albeit, it's his own version of a magic school which it wasn't introduce in Harry Potter but just turned the genre more mainstream. I personally would love to see a second series as well a third series, as the characters are adorable and relatable to the audience and the story doesn't get stall at a certain point, it just takes the right pace to conclude the first series on a proper way.

There still material to continue the show at least for a second series, maybe even up to a fifth, to give a proper conclusion to the show as if the students graduated to work on the school or took their own path. I totally recommend this small guilty pleasure to anyone, albeit there is one aspect and that the show got my attention and is the focus on human relations but also of what is to be an independent women in a world that is hostile.

The protagonist Atsuko Kagari or Akko (3) is probably the best example, as she lives on her own rules and tries to be her own person, beyond her admiration of the witch named Shiny Chariot (4) who inspired her to become a witch because of a show that Akko saw when she was younger; but, her actions go that she wants to inspire and make other people happy with her goal of being taken seriously as a witch but as a young woman, who is quite talented and powerful.

Not only the strong character comes from Akko, but from her friend and nemesis such as Lotte (5), Sucy (6) and Diana (7) in which each one of them offers a different perspective towards the inner turmoils of growing up and developing your own persona in a world that can be hostile towards you.

Diana could be the most interesting character from the show, as she seems to be independent and talented but is bounded to the family history, a history in which she feels as enslaved and couldn't even think of happiness. There is a juxtaposition of Diana's character as someone who tries to find happiness but is tied to family traditions, which is a cultural element that can enslave women across the world such as arranged marriage (8)

The fact that on episode tenth (9) Bee Commotion, with the introduction of Andrew Hanbridge (10) as a possible suitor, that he wasn't an influence towards the series but rather much of an ally, instead of a savior or potential romance showed that human relationships within the show were more important than to fall into classical anime cliches such as romance and being a helpless damsel in distress but rather a young person who is growing up, even with the insecurities that almost everyone has to live with.

Reference:




  1. https://myanimelist.net/featured/294/Little_Witch_Academia__Studio_Trigger_Puts_a_Spell_on_You
  2. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Luna_Nova_Magical_Academy
  3. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Atsuko_Kagari
  4. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Ursula
  5. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Lotte_Yanson
  6. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Sucy_Manbavaran
  7. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Diana_Cavendish
  8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arranged_marriage
  9. http://little-witch-academia.wikia.com/wiki/Bee_Commotion
  10. http://www.mit.edu/~rei/manga-gender.html

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Confessions of a Retail Clerk Working in a Hurricane Surge

Empty water shelve
(9/9/2017) --- I am writing this before any power failures. The last seven days had been insane, I can't imagine for health care practicioners, EMT's, firemen and police officers have to deal with the aftermath or what they have to deal during the panic attacks that people have during hurricanes and other weather phenomena.

I always took advantage and bought my supplies before the storm season arrived, at this moment I am missing a good flash light but any lights and batteries have been out of stock everywhere for a week now. What it gets my attention is the behavior of some people who go into a rage frenzy, a panic and ultimately an understanding of their own mortality without even thinking about the consequences of their actions towards themselves and others.

It is madness to work in between a category five hurricane, people just fight and attack the clerks for almost anything; I shouldn't complain too much, because after a trip to the gas station I saw how badly the clerks on those establishment can be treated by people who are rushing into a panic mode. I went to the gas station, I am not going to mention which location but it was a WaWa, after picking up sand bags with a dear friend of mine, people were trying to skip the line and put gas as soon as possible.

On a certain moment, two individuals started to fight, they mentioned racial epithets to each other but their fight suddenly stopped, when one of them pulled a gun on the other, and the one who started with the racial slurs just went back to his car. The attendants who were directing the traffic were alarmed, they started to scream "that someone should call the cops" but the honest truth, there was a cop sitting behind them and didn't do anything.

A long line for water
Going back to the store setting; almost every store that I worked with, they contain one of two water filling stations. On the one that I am right now, we have one on the exit, next to it there are some other coolers with drinks and vending machines; but, the main treasure, the golden objective was to go to the water station, to fill up the gallons.

Lines were insane, just for water, to refill water. They were more people on the other side of the door, almost 30 something people in line, waiting to refill the water, going slowly as possible, blocking the entrance and exist as well the cart receiving station.

It is understandable, water becomes the main resource for survival, mostly when there can be a failure on the sewers due the rise on the water; but, whenever customers start acting aggressive and threat the employees, which they have been working hard to assist the customers, then the experience of working in a tense enviroment turns into a nightmare.

8:15 AM 09/09/17
The last day before any major evacuation and before the store closed earlier; it fell as it was rush hour, but it was 8:00AM, just one hour after we open. The photo on the left, I took it exactly 15 minutes after I arrived, and the store was full. Right now, I am just waiting for the power to fail, anyone who is in Florida, please be safe, be safe.

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Mafalda Short Essay

10 Years with Mafalda
(8/31/2017) --- It's been ten years since I had the chance to put my hands in a Mafalda (1) book, better say to see it in person.  To give a brief idea of who is Mafalda and what is her universe? It's the comic strip of an Argentinian girl who was created by Quino (2) in 1964. We need to understand that Mafalda started as an advertisement oriented cartoon and it evolved to be a product of is time.

Beyond the socio-political setting of the 1960's in which each character represents different ideological aspects of the Argentinian culture, the setting can be still applied in the contemporary of today's social panorama in which the rise of populist and neo-nazi parties are creating an urgency in which a new voice such as Quino and thus Mafalda need to be hear. 

Of course we have Doonesbury (3) but over the years Gary Trudeau (4) has lowered the pace of the strip because of age and other commitments, leaving an opening for young cartoonists who have this disposition of media beyond any printed means to reach their desired targeted audience.

What I found interesting, is that Mafalda never struck openly in the United States; it could be due sociological differences; humor disparity or the way the people see society's evolution and how international and regional relations evolve on a daily basis. It is important to have some form of political humor and critique that can reach to the people of every country and make them think about how to change and impact their communities.

On the United States a cartoon as Mafalda is just scarce, there aren't many on mainstream media besides Doonesbury and is actually quite sad, because there aren't any new voices that can impact the readers; I guess, there is always online media and hosting, albeit is difficult to reach an audience without the proper funds.

I haven't found any official translations about Mafalda at least in Tampa, I know online there are some unofficial's, but nothing in particular. Why we need a character as Mafalda? Or at least to read it beyond the language and cultural barriers, because it expose a strong female character who is non-conformist with the rules of the society that she is growing up.

We as readers, we need to understand that the comics expose a great deal of feminist and existentialist tones that transcend the bounds of 1960's in Argentina; it sets a series of examples that we can be whatever who we want to be and hesitate and question our surroundings. It gives an amazing introduction to younger readers about what is to be a female and to try to expose your ideas as openly as possible; knowing that within gender bias there would be a difficulty to expose your ideas.

On an existentialist level, Mafalda is just a prime example towards how the following a retrospective and exo analyses could lead to see solutions on a problematic social enviroment, but also to understand the part of yourself that makes it your own persona; the idea of an existential doubt shouldn't be seen as a bad "thing" as is part of a composed ego and well structured critical thinking.


Reference:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafalda
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quino
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doonesbury
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Trudeau

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

How do Gorons Reproduce?

Goron from OoT
(8/29/2017) --- Hello everyone, lately I've been hooked up to Breath of the Wild (1) and I been playing the franchise since maybe I was five years old and I always had an obsession with the in real world mechanics that are present in Hyrule and the different locations around the world and time-space.

One tiny aspect that caught my attention a while ago it was that there were no female Gorons or any information if Goron's are compatible with other races such as Gerudo's mating with Hylians to reproduce.

Goron's themselves are quite of a mystery as they seem to survive and multiply no matter the enviroment, the socio-economical conditions or the tragedies that are facing above Hyrule. Then the question is, how they do it?

Around the different timelines Gorons seem to be organized into a patriarcal society (2), becoming almost the opposite of the Gerudo's but being more open to foreigners and trade openly with other cultures and civilizations across the land, it can be inferred that after the Hylians as a group, the Gorons are the third civilization that has ties with almost every single aspect of the land in terms of technology and cultural development just right after the Sheikah.

The idea that Gorons reproduce sexually is out of the range, as they seem to be only socializing among themselves and they refer to each other as "brothers" and in a certain extent they seem to be asexual by nature as none of them seem to engage into any form of romantic relationships with anyone or even themselves.

Probably as a theory, is interesting to think that Gorons are mostly associate to reptiles and if we can place them with a real world reference, Gorons could be extremely similar to Komodo Dragons and the New Mexico Whiptail and their reproduction would be involved with parthenogenesis, which in theory there should be female Gorons, albeit not healthy ones if we set the parallels between the Whiptail and the Gorons.

It wouldn't be strange to think whenever it's mentioned by Nintendo on how Gorons reproduce is not far away from the idea of asexual reproduction or at least a form that is closely related Gynogenesis but the species would be women in their vast majority if that would happen, as the male would only stimuli the egg with his sperm but the genetic material would be on the matri-lineal side.

The most related example I can think is that Gorons reproduce through Hybridogenesis (3) and the Gorons that we meet during the different games are essentially hybrid species of the genus, which can lead why the Gorons in Termina seem to be different from the Gorons on the main universe?

Goron Elder

The best example I can think about it is the Goron Elder (4) in Majora's Mask where we can see he has hair and more human characteristics, probably we can even think that as a race they could be related to the Hylians on a genetic level and the female who could take part in the reproduction is to determine which gametes will pass to the next generations but it would be the male Goron who would take the pregnancy and reproduction of the fetus to full term.

These are just mere ideas, nothing official and nothing serious, thank you very much for reading me.

References:

  1. https://zelda.gamepedia.com/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild
  2. http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Goron
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybridogenesis_in_water_frogs
  4. https://zelda.gamepedia.com/Goron_Elder

Monday, August 14, 2017

Idiotic to say Amazon is a "no-tax" Monopoly

Screen cap
(8/14/2017) --- There is plenty to get entertained by within the Twisterphere, mostly because it is now used as the official channel of communication of the White House. I wish I was joking; but, we can see the musings of the President within such a close-range and we don't even have to turn the T.V. we can see everything under 140 characters or less.

Let's analyze something Amazon had more than US$136 billion dollars in sale last year; yes, that is a lot of money and is also an indicator as a consolidated brand that specializes in e-commerce; but Amazon is not and I repeat is not a monopoly. Let's analyze something really quick, a monopoly happens when a company exists to dominate a market, that it can reduce competition and rise the prices of the goods for more than a brief period of time (i.e. think a supermarket that is central in Georgia and Florida; even if there is some competition as Florida antitrust laws say that there has to be more than five competitors but still that supermarket is the one who dominates the market in terms of quantity and locations, as well placing high level prices on the items which can be found anywhere else for a lesser amount).

There is no need to worry because usually antitrust violation comes within consumer harm and not harm to the competitors... seriously that doesn't make any sense because if you hurt competition you are hurting the customers by not offering variety of services and most complains about Amazon are usually set by the own competition. Yet it shouldn't be complicated, as monopoly laws only take places when a company controls 75% of a any X market, much as when Microsoft was the dominant business of computers in the early 2000 by owning a 90% of the market; but Amazon has always been clear of that term.

Of course our President is more than wrong to say "Amazon is not subject to tax" but as any other business Amazon pays taxes on a corporate income, property, payroll and unemployment insurances. Last year Amazon paid US$412 millions in federal, state, local and foreign last year but still Amazon is not except of criticism that they took advantage of legal loopholes and tax breaks, such as placing their tax burden was 35% on the official corporate tax rate, Amazon just paid a 9.3% of federal income tax.

One aspect that is interesting to mention is that at this moment Trump has't appointed  someone to guide the Federal Trade Commission, and he is still has a high number of vacant positions in his administration; which the Trade Commission must review the acquisition before the deal completion of this planned acquisition.

For a more detailed point of view, click here (3) and you will be redirect to Market Watch which they explain more properly the next steps of the acquisition and how Amazon plans to go into the grocery business.

Reference:

  1. Politifact.com - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jul/26/donald-trump/amazon-no-tax-monopoly-donald-trump-said/
  2. ABC - http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-empty-administration-whats-high-number-vacant-government/story?id=47851403
  3. Market Watch - http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-to-issue-up-to-16-billion-in-debt-to-fund-whole-foods-acquisition-2017-08-14

Sunday, August 13, 2017

The War That Came With Fire and Fury

Juche Tower Wiki Commons
(8/13/2017) --- From the West we have the North Korea threat which is nothing compared to the menace that comes from the heart of our country we have the real enemies of the State which encompass Trump voters and supporters; we are being sold the idea that North Korea is the real enemy of the United States while the truth is in less than a year we will be heading for a second civil war that has relations again to race, immigration and American Exceptionalism that only the whites are the superior race.

We are being sold to the State propaganda that the biggest threats come from outside, while inside everything is "perfect" but we are going to talk about that in another entry. At this moment, Donald Trump after his speech on August the 10 that he was going to bring Fire and Fury to DPRK which brings his security team to the brink of darkness as they don't know what he is going to do or say based in his "improv" style of handling international politics.

Last Tuesday our President was in a "feisty" mood after the Washington Post published had developed small nuclear warheads that can be placed on ballistic missiles; his aides placed on him to "rehearse" but it seems Mr. Trump has reached a point in his life where doesn't go what the script says and wouldn't even take a moment to think what is in risk if he opens his mouth and place a war declaration on a country that over decades has been with the mentality that there is a perpetual war against the Godspell Imperialism sent by the United States and that perpetrated over the decades after the Juche.

None of the staffer on the Trump administration thought about asking him to rehease or to stick with the script; probably they gave up at this moment; albeit, their best excuse to defend our leader behavior was that "he wanted to say a message to Kim, using his same rhetoric"  so, technically this has been a justification to start World War 3 with a country that has been living in a delusion for decades and that also has nuclear arsenal that could reach places beyond Guam, such as California and Nevada without any inconvenience.

It is incredibly reckless, not only to think if the country gets "freed" from the Kim family regime, they won't recover overnight economically and socially, that would be a process that can take decades before the country shows any sign of improvement. The war beyond being outside is at home, with the incendiary words that depart from any attempt of diplomacy and it looks more as a bully in high school than an actual politician.

Let's think on 1968 when North Korea seized an American vessel and Lyndon Johnson called for diplomacy to appease the crisis or when Bill Clinton used soft threats mixed with serious one that the U.S. could strike Pyongyang to stop their preemptive use of nuclear weapons. The best example was Dwight D. Eisenhower in which he used a preemptive message to the regime if they didn't wanted to talk to Seoul, he would send a nuclear strike to North Korea.

Probably not the best example in terms of long-term action, but they managed to keep their image and class instead of sending a tantrum that the world could see. The problem is that Trump is making empty treats while his entire team keeps defying him, as he doesn't show coordination towards managing international diplomacy of any kind and seems to be motivated by the mere impulse of bragging rather than showing .

He needs to be clear, but instead he seems to be diverging his attention because he keeps getting validation to the American Nazi's that supported him up to the Oval Office or changing his speech saying that there is an opioid epidemic and offenders needs to go to jail. Yet, we are facing a bigger problem here in the States, the rise of a Third Reich and facing the consequence will be a struggle but fixing them it will take decades to improve the social and economical disparities that we as Americans we are living.

Reference:

The New York Times International; Thursday August the 10th

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Brett Gleason Manifest Album Review



(08/08/2017) --- Brett Gleason is just one unique musician, not only for being an indie artist but also being multi-instrumental, and with the ability to reach to the deep of your soul but the complexity of the songs that contain a twist. His second album Manifest released on  April 14th of 2017, which the ten songs album directs the attention to topics about life such as sex, death and times where sorrow seems to be striking on almost every corner; it is an amazing album to listen to, not only from the music perspective but from the humanism side too.

What is fantastic about Gleason is that he brings different approaches to his brand of indie-rock through the use of piano as a central element in the compositions; such as "Rough Love" there is the sound of menacing verses in contrast of sweet phrases that talk about an emotional turmoil and manipulation that can be the product of a abusive relationship.

The sounds that Brett produce is radio radio, it can be set to a more mainstream audience as it goes between a transgression of beats that start on a simple set of harmonies such as "Humane" which evolve into a more complex ballad as it develops into a heart-wrenching performing. The sounds of Brett with his melancholic tone of voice, gives a very unique sound and quality of music that is not common, that is unique and which makes easy to identify Brett's music.

The lyrics are quite beautiful and full of sorrow, they offer introspection as well an analysis to what is about to be alive being comfortable in your own skin; the songs can be quite uplifting and they can have hope, they have perseverance to never give up to anything that is in front of you.

I totally recommend buying Manifest (1) as is a very unique experience of indie-rock but also it reach to your soul and is amazing to listen for a second, third and fourth time with more detail and notice that the lyrics paint the basic human experience of being alive. Also, the album is on the iTunes Store (2)

Reference:

  1. Web retrieved: Brett Gleason Store http://store.brettgleason.com/album/manifest
  2. Web retrieved: iTunes Store - Brett Gleason Manifest - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/manifest/id1212194149

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Caleb Hyles and Jonathan Young Youtubers Reviews

(8/7/2017) --- Hello everyone, I went for the first time to MetroCon Tampa last weekend and I had a blast. I'd never been to a comic book convention and I plan to go back again next year but if I can I already set my goals to go to one of the last ones of the year in Tampa that is coming at the end of next month which is going to be MegaCon Tampa.

Senpai did noticed Me!
I thought about doing cosplay but I want to plan it carefully next year with a friend, in which I hope we can do a gender swap version or go together as high school college girls and scream senpai notice me to every single person we see.

Going back to the topic, one of the reasons I decided to give it a go and see the convention after postponing it for many years was because two of my favorite Youtubers Caleb Hyles and Jonathan Young were going to be there and I was curious to see them, I missed them on their first day with the singing and autograph signing but I had the chance to go on the second day and saw them on their Disney Sing-A-Long and it was quite fantastic.

Jonathan and Caleb
I always try to see how the performers interact with the fans and how the fans receive them; I am a marketing major and lately the term influencers as a form of marketing has been in my head as a thesis that is inherent in the marketing field, much as a integration on how there is a relation between the seller and the purchaser to obtain a desire result in a product acquisition.

I regret that I didn't took a photo with them and ask for an autograph, but there is always the time to fanboy next year or even just purchase it through their respective e-stores. The most important part of my experience was that what (if you are a fan already) you see on their videos and social media accounts is what you get, two really nice guys who love what they do and they know that their fan base gives them their support to be in the place they are right now.

It was fun to see the rise of two new celebrities in the music scene, how they promote their products and how people adore them because they are honest and the consumers or in this case their viewers can see that. 

Caleb Hyles
One aspect I found amazing to watch, inside the convention is that is a space free of hate, is essentially a safe space where people can enjoy a good time without any objections or harassment. It's a space where you can see fully everyone enjoying the moment and themselves. One of those moments I thought it was the best one I ever seen in my life it was on the sing-a-long where two guys dressed as Esmeralda from the Hunchback sang and stole the show, it was amazing.

A moment before the sing-a-long ended Caleb went down the podium and the crowd went wild, everyone was happy to see someone they admire and support his channel and music through Patreon  which it can make a difference in the life of an artiste.

That moment where Caleb and Jonathan were walking in between the crowd was just amazing, spectacular, I felt humble to be there and watch a new generation of entertainers connect on a one on one with their fans and the fans replying positive. I hope next year they are invited to any of the conventions in Central Florida, I really hope they can come back to MetroCon because surely I will ask for an autograph this time.

References:

  • Caleb's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/calebhyles
  • Jonathan's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jonathanyoung
  • Caleb's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CalebsCovers
  • Jonathan's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC40gs0opj389ohjLnJIAJzA


Wednesday, July 12, 2017

The Grim Reality for the Florida Democrats in 2018


7/12/2017 --- The reality in Florida to the Democratic Party is that it looks grim at this moment, there are questions towards funds and strong candidates.

Right after the last year election, many individuals affiliated with the Democratic Party started to gather more often in the Pinellas County Democratic Meetings as well on several other branches such as the one in Orange County, they switched venues to accommodate more individuals.

Within Hillsborough County, activist have launches New Tampa (1) and Temple Terrace clubs, but still even if there has some form of re-emergence, the panorama for the 2018 mid-terms elections looks grim as the party unity within the State doesn't seem to have any cohesion towards their message and socio-economical interest that could secure them the control on the upper chambers of power.

We have to understand that the last democratic governor in Florida was 19 years ago who was Kenneth Hood Mackay who replaced Lawton Chiles when he died in 1998 (2) while serving his second term; after that we had Jeb Bush and ending with Rick Scott; for the last 19 years every single one of them has been Republican and Florida essentially shifted from a blue State to a red one.

The main principle on the recovery plan lays on the economical growth which has been stale, and mixed with the inequality between the property and rental costs, with the rise of the child care and competitive wages there is a stagnation on the cost of living, in which Floridians are struck hard; essentially on a emotional perception there is no "hope for growing up economically"

The problem in the stagnation is that the job creation is aimed to specialized jobs but not the ones related to tradesman which essentially that is the main composition of the middle  and the disparity between the wealth of the Floridians (3). Economic stability can play a big role in the perceptions of the voters, but if the candidates know how to exploit those perceptions they can win a power position beyond any lobby influence.

There is still an expectation of a Democratic turnout, but the key goes on registering voters, recruiting, organizing and building vote-mail system in which it will assist any future voter with mobility issues to exercise their democratic power. The grim reality that democrats are facing in Florida is that not only have to persuade the voters that haven't been able to attract in 19 years, there aren't a charismatic set of people who can lead.

At least optimist remains. 



References:

  1. https://www.facebook.com/newtampadems/
  2. https://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_florida.html
  3. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article107857042.html

Monday, July 3, 2017

The Symbols that Refuse to Fade

Photo of Saint Petersburg Blog
(7/3/2017) --- It is quite shameful that the Hillsborough, Florida County Commission voted 4-3 to preserve a Confederate statue in the grounds of the old courthouse - a monument that is a symbol that not all men all treated equal and from a period of history that individuals of different European heritage owned slaves.

The different arguments about how different constituents spoke about how civil rights and how how some of their ancestors were enslaved, didn't faced any of the board that is composed by Victor Crist (1), Ken Hagan (2), Sandy Murman (3) and Stacey White (4), all of them which are at the end of their terms and for re-election by next year, which also new comers such as Angel D'Angelo (5) a new comer who is running also for the County Commission and if you would like to see his points and donate to his campaign you may open the hyperlink.

The statue was dedicated in 1911 to honor the Confederate soldiers and sailor, which on a long term with the rise of civil rights and equality the idea of honoring the Confederation in 2017 is extremely outdated as well it just perpetuates the symbols of hate that are still present; some pro-confederate individuals will argue that Is About Heritage, Not About Hate (6) but the heritage from the confederacy is linked to the hatred of African Americans, Aboriginals, Chicano's just to name a few and seeing a pro-confederacy statue in front of a court house ensures  that not all men are created equal.

If you want more information about the inequality in Florida for African Americans (7) you may click on this link that will redirect you to an editorial from the Tampa Bay Times, where it speaks about the harsher sentences that can be inflicted on someone just by their color of skin or ethnic origin.

Not moving the statue is quite an insult to the diversity that is happening around in Tampa, it could be a good idea to even start an educational campaign that generations will keep knowing that honoring racism is bad, even if it sounds silly; but we have to remember that this pseudo-progressive county area has a Confederate flag on one of the busiest highway that also connects to different tourists destinations around Central Florida and brings people from all nationalities and backgrounds to Tampa Bay.

It is difficult to understand this commission, the same ones that even acknowledge LGBT Pride Month refuse to acknowledge and issue about race disparity, same with Mayor Bob Buckhorn  

References: 

  1. http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/government/board-of-county-commissioners/victor-d-crist
  2. http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/government/board-of-county-commissioners/ken-hagan
  3. http://www.sandymurman.com/
  4. http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/government/board-of-county-commissioners/stacy-white
  5. https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/51570/coloradans-v-koch-brothers-the-fight-for-universal-healthcare-in-co/benny_benassi_video_download_from_filesonic/index.php/candidates/5951927d91ae78728756dbba/angel-dangelo
  6. http://www.thedailybeast.com/heritage-not-hate-sorry-white-south-they-go-together
  7. http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-unequal-justice-in-florida/2306556

Sunday, July 2, 2017

The Murder of Venus Xtravaganza

Venus on one of her last interviews
It's been 29 years, as of July the 2nd of 2017 since Venus Xtravaganza (1) was assassinated and a little bit over 33 years since Jennie Livingston socioeconomic documentary Paris is Burning (2) interviews happened.

It was 26 years ago that for the first time on contemporary media, the phrase "transgender murder" happened within the mouth of the late drag mother Angie Xtravaganza (3), the importance of Venus and Angie comes that on that moment on  August 16th of 1991 where a documentary on the AIDS pandemic bring the life of young LGBT individuals who were shunned by their families and thousands of them dying and being unreported because of their families didn't wanted them.

More importantly, Paris is Burning shows the different aspects of transgender youth who after being rejected by their families, and being left to their own lucks (4) and ultimately finding ways to survive such as resorting into prostitution (5) in which is one of the ways that many meet their untimely death, because there aren't protections on a federal level for transgender women and transgender men that will guarantee a dignified life in which there shouldn't be fear to live on your authentic self.

29 years later after the murder of Venus, there is not enough protections and treatments to give the opportunity to someone to transition and be happy, but also that work related they could have an enviroment in which they shouldn't fear of getting fired for any reason, which could involve harassment or termination without notice

Venus and Willie Ninja
As many transgender women who were murdered, her killer was never apprehended; other killers go with the gay/ trans panic defense (6) which is still used by the perpetrators to avoid jail time and is insane that courts still rule in favor of that. We have reach a point where we should change the word equality to equity in order to represent that we are all equal, because we still as a society give preference.

We can take a look at what happened to Texas (7) in which the Texas Supreme Court reversed the spousal benefits for same sex couples, there is no equality when people in power are playing with the dignity and basic rights of human beings. The importance of Venus goes as she is an icon beyond the NYC ball scene, she is one of the many who represent that 30 years later, there is still inequality.

If someone who reads this entry, has a clue such as the hotel or motel she was murdered, or where to find the police records, please comment below. Thank you.

References:


  1. http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/17921/1/the-legacy-of-venus-xtravaganza
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Is_Burning_(film)
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angie_Xtravaganza
  4. http://www.newsweek.com/transgender-murders-protect-trans-women-568558
  5. http://www.refinery29.com/2017/04/151401/transgender-women-murder-rate-us-2017
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20080205180344/http://www.courttv.com/archive/trials/mckinney/gay_panic_ruling_ctv.html
  7. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/lgbt/2017/06/30/texas-supreme-court-rules-gay-couples-notguaranteedspousal-benefits

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Politics and Economics in the Pokemon World - Part Two

Professor Oak
(1/11/2017) --- Playing for many years, almost 2 decades of playing Pokemon, players can see an evolution towards the game as well some of the backstory that mostly the game story-line is set on a post-apocalyptic world. We can see that on the first sixth generations there weren't many adults and much of the towns were underdeveloped, there were many orphans and widows and essentially society was being reconstructed.

The seventh generation (Bulbapedia - Seventh Generation), shows a different world in which a rise of humanity has overcome decades of oblivion and people seem to be rising again from the destruction. Alola (Bulbapedia - Alola) focus on a society that is striving economically as well socially, people are visiting different places of the archipelago as well around the world.

Albeit in Alola we get a more detailed orientation about the role of the Pokemon Professors, on Generation I the players can get obtain a detailed idea about the role they play on the society that collapsed. Professor Oak, could be the most prominent of the scholars that surround the society who live among the Pokemon's.

The role of a Pokemon Professor goes beyond giving the starter Pokemon's to the player, it is a socio political role much keen to being a governor and it plays an impact on the development of the region. To understand more commonly the role, we can take a look on Professor Oak himself as well the impact he had between Johto and Kanto but as well around the globe.

To understand Professor Oak we have to see him as a successful tactician and politician, besides his interest of relationship between humans and Pokemon's. He essentially organized two regions to share one common league or the Indigo Plateau, became a role model to Professor Elm (Bulbapedia - Professor Elm) who became the regent figure on the Shinnoh region. Why Professor Oak is such an important figure towards being some form of a celebrity within the Pokemon universe? Because he was one of the ones who placed an end to the war that separated Kanto and Johto but organized other professors to become the regents of their respective regions and the formation of their respective leagues.

Kanto

Essentially what Oak can be seen is, as the founder of a technocracy (Wikipedia - Technocracy) that gained momentum and influence around the world. There are no career politicians around the different regions, and there are no other influences towards the economical and educational development of the population with the exception of individuals who are dedicated to technological progress as well some corporations around the world.

The world of Pokemon faces on an economical perspective a capitalistic problem, as the regions are oriented towards consumers and company relations towards spending; but, it gives a debacle between physical efficiency and cost of technology.

There is an inflation around, products are on an extremely high price and the radius of the population versus income is despair for individuals to go and purchase technology that would let them travel around the world, at least on the first generation games; still, even towards the seventh generation there are hints that no many people can afford traveling or even going on a journey to compete against gyms and or trials in the Alola region.

We still have to consider that if it wasn't for the technocratic movement that governs each region, there wouldn't be any economical developments and technological advancements on the regions; even on the Generation VII games we can see some developments that we will be talking on an upcoming entry.

Kukui
On the Sun & Moon games, the players can see with more detail the actual role of the professors and what is the influence they take on each region. What it was mentioned earlier, the professors act as governors and leaders of opinions, they essentially influence the structure of a region and how the nation would be politically organized even on how the trials would take place.

It is interesting to see how can one person, is essentially in direct charge of many aspects that surrounds a cultural group but also on how they can promote their region for better. Kukui opposite to other scholars from previous generations is more of a showman, besides being dedicated to his research in move sets, he organized the Alola Pokemon League and acted as the first Champion, while being a public figure on the Pokemon Royal Battles (Bulbapedia - Pokemon Battle Royal) and keeping a relationship with his wife Professor Burnet.

From a timeline perspective, we can interpret that the Alola region was the last region to fully developed socially and economically as it was independent located from the Kanto main land, which probably the Alola region politically speaking is on a separated continent from the previous generations which led a delay of having a league of their own.

Kukui can be seen also as the man who opened the economical relationships further between the region and the other parts of the world by allowing immigration, and bringing new trainers in. Even so, it's easy to speculate based on how the professors interact with the player and how much others NPC's give information about the impact they had caused on their regions. 

References:

  • Web retrieved: Bulbapedia, Seventh Generation of Pokemon Games - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_VII
  • Web retrieved: Bulbapedia, Alola - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Alola
  • Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Professor Elm, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Professor_Elm
  • Web retrieved: Wikipedia, Technocracy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy
  • Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Pokemon Battle Royal, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Battle_Royal

Monday, January 2, 2017

Evolutionary Traits in Pokemon -Polymorphism- Part Two

Alolan Rattata
(1/2/2017) --- One thing I found interesting about Pokemon Sun & Moon, is that it offers finally an introduction to the concept of polymorphism to explain the differences in variation of the species among the world.

To understand the Pokemon World (Bulbapedia - Pokemon World) we have to understand a world that is extremely similar to Earth, we can even debate towards if this world could be concentrated in the String Theory of an infinite set of universe in which a world, through evolutionary means developed fantastic creatures (Supestring Theory Website - Basics).

Now, if we situate in this hypothetical universe, that is similar to our own, with a similar planet, similar nature laws and in a place where we can see variations of the same species, as well subspecies, now to understand the game franchise story will know that each game is set in different regions, within each regions there are a set of Pokemons that are exclusively to those regions, but overall within those regions the player never see variants of Generation 1 & 2; such as Meowth or Rattata.

The regions that are mentioned are Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh Unova and Kalos. Those regions could be considered part of one vast continent that contains a similar number of Pokemon that could travel freely and always face a similar variances on the regions micro-climates, dietary needs and human impact. In theory, there aren't any variants of Pokemons towards these lands, because they could be considered one and the same.

Alola Region
Now we have a land, Alola which comes with the Seventh Generation (Bulbapedia - Seventh Generation), what is fantastic about this generation is that it's the first Pokemon game that offer an insigth towards the concept of polymorphism (Encyclopedia Britannica), species invasion in a foreign ecosystem as well biological adaptation.

We are going to focus more entries on this topic, so far we are just going to go within the genetic variations of Pokemon's found in Alola versus the ones found in Kanto and the surrounding regions.

Alolan Meowth
Sometimes within adaptation of species, there are minor differences between what the morphology of the body; but, if we take a discontinuous genetic variation divides individuals of a single population into two or more distinct forms such as the case of Meowth (Bulbapedia - Meowth)

What is fantastic about Alolan Meowth is that is almost a different species of the same cat-like creature; there are some common morphological traits but on an learning level and we can add genetic makeup they differ between each other vastly.

How two creatures evolved differently goes into the phenotype, similar as how dogs were transformed over the course of 20 thousand years, just to give a short estimate (Genome Sequencing Highlights of the Dynamic Early History of Dogs) but in the case of Meowth the adaptability trait came as an invasive species that mimic the feral cat problematic in Hawaii.

The similarities between Meowth in Alola and cats in Hawaii are actually quite remarkable, as in the game lore the Meowths' were introduced from the Kanto region and became an invasive species on the Alola region, much as the cats were brought by the Europeans to act as guardians of the plantation against local pest (Hawaii Invasive Species Council)

The Meowths eventually on an estimate course of hundred years invaded all the archipelago and because of the human interaction and impact, they eventually went feral after the overpopulation and lack of control to retain the species from proliferating. Opposite to the Kanto region is that Meowth in Alola is a Dark type Pokemon opposite to a Normal Type, in which the adaptation is mostly related to the biological rhythm in which the Meowth as well Persian operates .

Alolan Persian
An aspect I found interesting is that Alolan Persian actually looks closely to a caricature version of a Persian, rather than a Siamese Cat that was common during the first six generations of the game. It probably came at the end as a way to add a more precise look to the character; but still it looks as a cross between two different cats.

References:

  1. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Pokemon World -http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_world
  2. Web retrieved: String Theory Homepage -http://superstringtheory.com/basics/index.html
  3. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Generation Seventh -http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_VII
  4. Web retrieved: Encyclopedia Britannica - Polymorphism - https://www.britannica.com/science/polymorphism-biology
  5. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia -Meowth - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Meowth_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
  6. Web retrieved: Genome Sequencing Highlight the Dynamic Early History of Dogs, Freedman, Adam - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3894170/
  7. Web retrieved: Hawaii Invasive Species Council - http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/feral-cats/