My thoughts…on stuff

Christmas is now over. Retailers are still counting their holiday profits, the presents have been broken in, the feasts are over and your pockets contain nothing but lint. But while you were busy celebrating, a war was being waged. No, not the war in Iraq, the war on Christmas, waged between the secularists and the fundamentalists. In fact, this war has been waged since 1962, during the controversial school prayer case. The secularists are trying to take the “Christ” out of Christmas, and the fundamentalists are trying to maintain the traditional Christ-centered Christmas.

Some say “This war isn’t real, and exists only in the minds of the fundamentalists.” But it is real. That’s the only explanation of why there’s less Christ and more Claus each year. In fact, this war has gotten so heated that even President Bush has gotten involved, forced to choose sides. Stores such as Target and Macy’s which make millions off Christmas presents refuse to display “Merry Christmas” at their stores. Children are being forced to sing secular Christmas songs instead of traditional ones like “Silent Night.” It has even spawned a book. I’ve heard of separation of Church and State but this is ridiculous! News of this has outraged many, so the majority of the media is trying to downplay it, trying protect their advertisers’ revenues, but a few of them are bringing it to light.

But you may ask “Why Christmas? Why not Hanukkah or some other holiday?” Because Christmas is the single most popular holiday on earth, and the immense profits gained from its gift-giving ritual has prompted corporate America to take a page out of the Grinch’s book, and try to steal Christmas. Who will win this war? Only time will tell, but right now, the secularists have the upper hand.

Yes folks, its that time of year again. The time of year that we celebrate…the spirit of commercialism. Some of you may be saying “But Christmas is about Christ’s birth, goodwill toward men, (insert other generic Christmas phrases here)” But honestly, look around you. Christmas ads begin as early as mid-November, and continue with increasing frequency until Christmas and sometimes after. This barrage of ads comes from big business, desperately trying to gain people’s Christmas dollars and fulfill their dream of a “green Christmas.” Christmas specials are aired non-stop, featuring Santa Claus, the spirit of commercialism himself. Lavish decorations are put up, as people compete with their neighbours to see who has the best. Shoppers attack store shelves and each other in a mad rush, determined to complete their Christmas list, no matter how expensive the gifts are. Yet they never have enough to give to the Salvation Army man. People greedily consume Christmas cake, egg nog and other treats, but don’t spare a moment to give thanks.

And where is Jesus in all of this? He has been replaced by Santa Claus, because there seems to be no room for him in this world where religion is taken out of everything. Due to the increasing commercialization of Christmas, I have been losing a little Christmas spirit each year. Nowadays, I’ve lost almost all of it. Focusing on Christmas’ true meaning keeps me from turning into a complete Scrooge. A Christmas job I was counting on didn’t fall through, and I’ve got so little money that I can hardly afford a decent present for my little sister, much less the entire family. But no matter how commercialized it becomes, Christmas is still Christmas, so have a merry Christmas one and all!

On November 16, 2005, exactly one month ago, I embarked on the task of creating my own blog. It started out as being small and simple. 1 month later, I’m proud to say that my blog isn’t so small or simple anymore! It has come a long way in one month, as those reading it from the beginning will attest to. But there is still a long way to go before it becomes the blog I truly want it to be. Anyways, just wanted to mark the milestone with a post.

I’ve always been fascinated by the corporate world. The power, the wealth, the prestige. I plan to become a part of it someday, because lets face it, we’re all slaves to capitalism (unless you’re a dirty hippie), might as well make a career out of it. That’s why I watch “The Apprentice”, to gain insight into the corporate world. The 4th season’s finale aired last night on NBC. Millions tuned in to see which of the two finalists, Randal or Rebecca, would be employed by “The Donald”. I was cheering for Randal. Rebecca’s great and all but it’s always nice to see a black guy climb the corporate ladder.

They were both given huge tasks. Rebecca had to organize an AIDS charity event, hosted by Yahoo!. Randal had to organize a charity event for autism. They both had the help of former Apprentice competitors. They handled them well, with a few setbacks. But when it came down to it, there could be only one. And that one was…Randal!! I thought that Rebecca wasn’t chosen because she didn’t collect money for the charity, despite her best efforts. There was something that Randal did that I hated though. When Donald asked him if he should hire both of them (which I’m thinking he would), he said, “This is The Apprentice, not The Apprenti”, which probably robbed her of her dream job. A double hiring, now that would be a great and unexpected twist. But that was not to be. Anyway, some big company’s bound to be impressed by Rebecca’s work and hire her, so she’s got nothing to worry about. Well, good luck on your new job Randal. Hope you enjoy working like a dog to make Trump millions.

How many movies have you seen this year? Less than a handful, huh? How many movies do you have on your hard drive? More than you can remember right? Can’t blame you. Hollywood rolled out another batch of mediocre movies this year, with a few noteworthy exceptions. Well, this Christmas season’s (sorry, holiday season. Got remember the “other” holidays) movie offerings just might convince you to get up off your couch and take a trip to the local cineplex.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire: It’s year 4 at Hogwarts, and the Gryffindor gang is up to their usual adventures. But now they face a greater foe than Voldemort himself - raging teen hormones. Yes my friends, they have reached that magical stage of life where young men and women begin to take interest in each other. Watch as Harry, Ron and Hermoine struggle to win the attention of the opposite sex. Oh, and there’s that Tri-Wizard tournament…thing. Goblet of Fire has already over $200 million, and has been hailed as the best Potter film yet. And the way things are going, it may be the highest grossing too.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Chronicles of Narnia has been surrounded by a great deal of hype ever since word of it got out, and now that it has been released, it is one of the few movies that lives up to expectations. Released last week Friday, it grossed an impressive $67.1 million in its opening weekend. This surprise blockbuster is based on C.S Lewis’ beloved children’s classic, that I didn’t know about until just recently, and I know you didn’t either. Everyone knows that this generation doesn’t read.

It’s about four children that find a magical land inside a wardrobe, full of centaurs, phoenixes, talking animals and the like. Once there, they must save the land of Narnia from the evil white witch. The film has been called Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings, but Disney has been comparing it to the Passion of the Christ. The reason behind this is that C.S Lewis was a Christian, and Narnia was probably written as a Biblical allegory. Hard to say whether Disney genuinely believes that there are religious elements in the movie or they just want to the Sunday folk to put some offering money in their pockets.

King Kong: When the first Lord of the Rings was made, Peter Jackson was hailed as having the potential to be the next Steven Spielberg. Now, he is the next Steven Spielberg (sorry Tarantino. You had your chance.) King Kong is yet another remake of the 1933 classic. Most people have seen of or at least heard of the King Kong movie. But if you have been living in a cave for most of your life, or if your age is a single digit number, here’s the gist of the story. It’s a typical “boy meets girl” story, except “boy” is a 24-foot gorilla. The movie’s hype is bigger than Kong himself, mainly because of the director and the main character. The profits should be just as big too.

These three movies will be the last blockbusters of 2005, and why not? Two were based on best-selling books, one was based on a cinematic legend, three great sources of inspiration, not some half-baked script that someone took 5 minutes to think up. Now the Jews will have something to look forward to when they go to the movies on Christmas Day.

The 2006 World Cup draw has been announced, with the pride of the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago, placed in Group B. It was a bittersweet moment. On one hand, my Caribbean brethren were going to represent us in one the world’s greatest sporting events. On the other hand, it reminded me of Jamaica’s failure to qualify. 4 years ago Jamaica became the first English-speaking Caribbean country to qualify for the World Cup. There was much celebrating, at home and abroad. The footballers became household names, and the Prime Minister declared a public holiday to mark their achievement. Football then replaced cricket as the most popular sport in the nation. Whenever the Reggae Boyz played a match, the stadium would always be awash with the national colours. Fans were making predictions about the future, of how the Reggae Boyz would soon be on par with juggernauts like Brazil and Spain. Now, 4 years later, that excitement, that passion, has all but gone.

I’m angry because the Reggae Boyz could have made it, it’s because of selfishness and poor teamwork why they didn’t. The Reggae Boyz’ performance in The World Cup impressed many, so much so that many of them were wooed by European football clubs. Many joined those clubs, and did well. But when it came time to represent their country, they disappointed. Some of them didn’t return to play for Jamaica. Others put their club schedule ahead of representing their country, the place they got their start. This left coaches desperately searching for players, many of them newcomers, leaving Jamaica with a sad excuse of a team. At the end of the day we failed to qualify, and for us, the road to Germany led to a dead end. Despite Jamaica’s miserable failiure, I’ll still watch the World Cup matches, especially those involving the Soca Warriors. They won’t win, that’s for sure, but it’ll be nice to see how far they go.

On Wednesday, December 7, Saddam Hussein boycotted his trial by not showing up. The day before he said he would not attend an unjust trial, called the trial a “US staged sham” and told the judges to “Go to Hell!” He also complained that he had been dragged up the stairs by US security personnel, and that he had no fresh clothes and been deprived of shower and exercise facilities. For a former dictator he sure has been acting like a spoiled brat, whining because things aren’t going his way. And now he decides to protest by playing hooky. Next thing you know he starts shooting spitballs at the jury.

His absence delayed the trial by several hours until they decided to continue. You’d think that this whole experience would be humbling for him, from the dismantling of his empire, to being found dirty and ragged in a hole barely able to fit an animal to his current trial. But no, Saddam somehow doesn’t get it - he’s not in charge anymore, and he is still trying to exert power. You can bet I’ll be watching the trial closely, but let’s be honest, we already know the outcome.

What is The Flying Spaghetti Monster? Some say that he is the noodly creator of the universe. Others say that he’s a mockery of Christianity and all other religions that believe in a higher power. Whatever he is, he has become a worldwide phenomenon and has been featured in newspapers and on television. But what is he really? Well, The Flying Spaghetti Monster was created by Bobby Henderson to protest the attempts of Christian groups to teach “Intelligent Design” as an alternative theory to evolution in American schools. In his open letter, he said that he and the other followers of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, called Pastafarians, had “scientific proof” of its existence, and because of this, Flying Spaghetti Monsterism should be taught in schools as another form of Intelligent Design. He also threatened them with legal action if they didn’t.

While many have been amused by this parody religion, Christians and other supporters of Intelligent Design are not laughing, and based on the brutal hate mail they’ve been sending him, they wouldn’t mind finding Mr. Henderson’s severed head in their Christmas stocking. Think this whole thing is ridiculous? You don’t know the half of it. Listen to their customs and beliefs.

• It is disrespectful to teach their beliefs without wearing full pirate regalia, “His” chosen outfit.
• The monster continues to guide human affairs with his “noodly appendage”.
• Prayers to “Him” are end with “Ramen”, instead of “Amen”.
• Heaven has a stripper factory and a beer volcano.
• Bobby Henderson is the “Prophet” of this religion.
• Every Friday is a religious holiday.

As mindblowingly STUPID as this “religion” is, it seems to be the fastest growing religion currently. Thousands are being converted worldwide. (Undeniable proof that one fool really does make many.) What do I think of all this? While it is funny (in a childish way), mocking God is not. I just hope that he comes to his senses before it’s too late.

My blog is just under 3 weeks old, and I’m pleased at how it’s progressing. It’s loved by many, it gets more hits than many older blogs, and it’s slowly beginning to fit the vision I had for it. Even though I’ve gotten no mail in the Gmail account I set up for it, and I have a grand total of $0.00 in my Adsense account, I’m just glad people are reading it. Even though most of my readers are Americans, I’ve gotten hits from as far away as Canada, Venezuela, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Qatar! Isn’t the Internet a grand invention?

Before my blog, I avoided news because it was too depressing. Now I spend hours scouring through newspapers, websites, and news channels (mainly CNN and BBC) to find interesting news for my blog, though I watch CNN way more than BBC, as Americans tend to be more entertaining than the British. I mean c’mon? Americans have Dubya, the British have Tony Blair. Americans have hot dogs and hamburgers. The British have crumpets and spotted dick. (I’m not being rude, it’s the name of an actual food item, believe it or not.) My blog became a success faster than I thought it would. But it couldn’t have happened without readers like you. So thanks to all those who have read my blog and continue to read it. I’ll continue to write as long as there’s someone reading.

Yes folks, there’s a lot of buzz being generated over XXX. No, it’s not about another Triple X movie, or the .xxx domain controversy. It’s the latest X-Men movie, X3. The trailer has just been released. I saw it on G4’s “Attack of the Show” on Dec 5. The release date has also been announced. But don’t wet your Wolverine undies in excitement just yet. The scheduled release date is May 26, 2006, Memorial Day weekend, about 6 months away, so you’ll have to wait awhile before you see your favourite mutants in action.

There will be a few changes to the cast. Nightcrawler will not be part of X3. But cheer up, there will be some new mutants this time around. The most prominently featured are Beast and Angel. Beast will be played by Kelsey Grammer (I always knew that within Dr. Frasier Crane’s refined exterior there was a beast trying to claw its way out! Well, not really) and Angel will be played by Micheal Murphy. Look out for Juggernaut and Gambit as well, and perhaps Phoenix (they left us a clue in X2, so why not?) I’ve seen the trailer and the movie looks promising, but trailers tend to be better than the actual movies so I’m not holding my breath. Click here to visit the official site.