Thursday, June 30, 2016

JUNE - EIPSODE VI: SUMMER 2016


WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE VI: SUMMER 2016
Hello People of the World;

Hoo boy, summer has finally here, and how! Actually, I have no idea what it will be like weather-wise as I am beginning to write this on the second of this month. Only four weeks before I post it. Well, it is warm and humid, you know what that means, right? Incessant bitching about how summer-like the weather is turning, especially since, GASP! summer follows spring!

Well, here we are once again as time creep slowly forward. I do not what I am writing at this point. Whatever it is, your bitching about the weather will never change. It will also never change it to the exact way you want. I do have a very specific reason why I bring up the weather and may have shared it here before but I will save it for another time.

Until then, let's begin this month's edition, shall we?

1:[ Since when has the word “pimp” come to mean something good? All I see in media and in public are the dudes calling each other a pimp like it is supposed to mean being good at “scoring” women. Excuse me, are not pimps lazy asses who exploit woman for free money by beating and threatening them into having sex for money? THAT is supposed to be a good thing to call a man?

If that is not bad enough, we now use words with positive meanings as insults. Look at how we all called Obama “elite” just because he was learned. It is really a bad thing to be smart in today’s society?

I have been thinking lately about how we communicate. We have pretty much de-evolved into speaking in grunts and shouts, in emojis and LOLs. We live in a very strange age. We live in a world where words that have a positive meaning are given a negative connotation so as to depower them. How about “Social Justice Warrior” that dudebros pass around because black, brown, or gay men and women have started speaking up for themselves and some white men have had the temerity to agree with them.

How is calling someone a “warrior” supposed to be bad? I thrive for social justice, that everything should be just and fair, not based on color or sex, but that idea that we are all equal in a societal sense. I believe in that. So, by calling me a “warrior” that wants social justice, aren’t you just calling me a super hero?

To use a phrase bandied about: grow up and get over it.

2:[ The more I watch it and see the reactions to it, the more I think that most people are missing the point of Wong Kar-Wai’s “The Grandmaster”. On the inter-nets I am always seeing this great film compared negatively to the “Ip Man” series starring Donnie Yen, when they are two completely different types of films.

People do not have the capacity to thinking critically or abstractly. We simply look at things in the way we want them to be, otherwise is just is not. It always seems that we have to have this very narrow worldview.

When people comment on “The Grandmaster”, they always remark on how the Donnie Yen “Ip Man” series is superior, because ACTION! and where he beats the shit out of those ten guys, best fight scenes ever. Yes, “Ip Man” are action films, they are supposed to be exciting and bright and loud. I get where they can get lost though as “The Grandmaster” is more a philosophical film than the “Ip Man” series. It is about the growth of self, depicted in the conflicting ideologies of north and south fighting styles.

That the martial art you choose is an extension of yourself. When Yip Man, turns toward the camera in the mid-credits scene and ask you directly, “What’s your style” it is a moment of reflection, he is asking “How do you lve your life, in search of truth, of self, or to show off, to add nothing useful but just fight?”

It is about a life style, a way of thinking, and acting in the world. Not, optimism, but progressive, not only in societal behaviors, but, in thought, action, and interaction with others. What we seem to be actively avoiding is an evolution of thought, when we overlook such ideas….

3:[ What do we mean when we say American has become a country “easily offended”? America has been offensive for all its existence. People still think that this country was conquered. Obviously, they have been taught history wrong. But people are getting mad because people get mad about stupid shit people say, crying, “you’re imposing on my free speech!”

The ironic thing is that many people think the First Amendment works in one direction, only the things they say or support. Many think it is one way, but it is not, it’s the other. What people really fear is taking responsibility. That is it, isn’t it?

They simply do not want to take responsibility for their actions, their words, or their views. They want to brush it off and be seen as some Free Speech Martyr, as if those who are offended are really trying thought control and being “Thought Police”. Shiiiiit, how does this concept of being “Too PC” control your thoughts? If some one being offended by what you said, controls your thoughts to begin with, you are such a weak-minded piece of shit it becomes hardly surprising that we now have the presumptive presidential nominees we have and how easy it becomes to have the media spoonfeed us our opinions.

For example, I have seen so many people wait for the new Redletter Media review to come out and the see YouTubers ape their review’s points in their comments on other videos.

Geez, if you offend someone, they have as much right to be offended, as you have to say it to begin with. Free Speech is not your personal shield from responsibility. Stand it like a man….

4:[ When I was entering Harold Washington Library downtown and noticed this lady was just taking her time going up the escalators. Look, there are thousands of people who sand on the escalators. It is no big deal to me. I consider myself a patient person and have been working on giving some consideration to others. But there are some knuckleheads who think it is some machine designed to get their stupid selves someplace faster. As if their shit to do is SO IMPORTANT!

When will people learn that the escalators are for folks who have a tough time on the stairs, or just want to stand still as they are whisked up to the next floor? It has gotten so bad that CTA has had to post sign that “Left is for Climbing, Right is for Standing: Pass on the Left!” And still, no one shows the courtesy of doing this. On my way into the library, some young fella who is needed right away, just pushed past me and the lady ahead of me without an “excuse me.”

Simple consideration: we need it in so many aspects of our lives. You know?

5:[ Game of Thrones has definitely turned into a soap opera. This season was simply a plotline check list that was constantly checked off, strung together by scenes that were made to illicit an emotional response masked as “storytelling”. Yet none of the big reveals or “shocking deaths” meant anything, had no attachments to the overall story; thus proving that the producers D&D are not good writers when they waded deeper into the “A Song of Ice and Fire” waters without their George RR Martin floats.

The true parentage reveal landed with such a dull thud because it had absolutely NO BEARING on the story or character and only feeds into fan expectation of prophesy and dragon riding nonsense. What if the baby opened its eyes to reveal blue eyes then boom cut to Dany on the seas crossing the oceans. Her story has built to this. But it was wasted in useless scene after speechmaking, dragon-riding scene. This whole season was filled with such “Awesome, EPIC” feel-good nonsense, like Dany making Tyrion “Hand of the Queen” though he was no damn good at it, just because folks wanted it.

The big ‘splosion meant nothing either but to put Cersei on the Iron Throne so we can Boo and Hiss her. Margery Tyrell’s death meant nothing either because it was just to get her out of the way. Look at Ned’s death. It meant something to the story as he had a plan, and we knew what it was. To save his daughters, he would give up honor and lie about usurping the throne. But that did not happen. Same with Robb and Cat, they were on the cusp of securing a surprise victory when the Red Wedding took place, those shocking deaths meant something. With Margery, she schemed and plotted without an endgame that would make her death have an impact.

Finally, Arya has simply become a child serial killer and we are cool with it even though her whole trip to Bravos meant nothing in the end and had no impact on her story because she slit that old guy’s throat for us. Now, she is a psycho, fucked in the head enough to make meat pies out of humans. Sorry, but that is not justice she gave him. To paraphrase Don Corleone “That is not justice, your dad, mom, and brother were killed, not eaten.” All this shows is that she is sick in the head now and that ruins the character but we excuse it because she killed Walder Frey, the man who rightly killed Robb and Cat because they lied to him and used him and betrayed him. But since his is a harsh old man, we don’t like him.

But no one cares about logic as long as Jon is the “Prince Who was Promised” and we get out balls tickled with cool scene after cool scene. Very disappointing.

It is a damn hell waste of a show that started so strong….

6:[ I cannot help but be frustrated with myself about my writing of late. I do my best to provide a thoughtful and clear, with some grammatical errors I am sure, ideas that hopefully entertain or/and enlighten; to try and help readers see things from my perspective. Of late, I feel that no one really cares about my point of view. So, I feel that I do not want to offend readers with my ideologies, which is funny considering I wrote an item here about allowing people to be offended at a person’s words, stances, or views.

I set myself a deadline to complete Wisdom of the Sages, in hopes that I will be able to write more consistently with a deadline looming. Lately, I have found myself racing against my own deadline struggling with putting in words my ideas that I hope a readers finds. I have all these views on things that are not really shared with my friends and colleagues and I am sure someone will tell me to remain true to myself or some such nonsense but I have to ask myself, “Do people really want to here an alternate perspective when all they want is their own opinions and views echoed back at them?”

It is a struggle that has been getting more and more difficult as I do not find myself taking a binary or expected stance on many topics. But I guess, right now, writing out my dilemma, voicing my predicament, I can somehow move forward and write out my thoughts on all the other items here in this month’s edition. We will see….

That is it for this month. As always, I invite you to comment, correct, or contradict anything I write here. I am open to a critical debate. Thanks for taking the time to check out what I write here and I will see you in a month.

Until next time, remember “I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”


2016 Ernest M Whiteman III