THE DAILY DIVERSION

SUMMER BREEZE... MAKES ME FEEL FINE...

Okay, when I think of this song I think of beautiful skies, sandy beaches with crystal clear water, fruity drinks, and wearing very little clothing. However, today is the exact opposite of that. It's freakin' freezing!! Today would be the one day that I forget to check out the weather before leaving home. I should've known better because it was an ice box in my bedroom this morning, again. Looking through the windows from my 15th floor apartment it appears to be a marvelous day. The skies are bright blue with little cloud coverage. The wind didn't appear to be gusting. All in all, you'd think it was in the mid 60's if you didn't know better. Well, obviously I didn't know better. Stupid me didn't put my winter coat on this morning. I regretted that the second I hit the pavement in the alley. The wind is blowing, and strong. Also, it's barely 35 degrees outside. I sucked it up and finished my walk to work. It would've taken the same amount of time to go back upstairs and get my coat anyway. Once I got here, I decided to get a little kinetic energy going, so I walked the 4 flights of stairs. It worked pretty well, since I wasn't all that cold when I made it to my desk.

Now, by the title of this entry you'd probably think that was the song of the day, but it's not. So, without further adieu...

Song of the day: "Broken" by Seether featuring Amy Lee (from Evanescence) from The Punisher Original Soundtrack

When I first saw myself type "broken" up there I wanted to follow it with "by Pantera, from Far Beyond Driven", but that's a completely different song! Some of you may remember this song from a couple of summer's ago. It was all the rage on the crappy pop radio stations, even though it's not a pop song. Nothing on that soundtrack is pop. I absolutely hate it when those shitty radio stations take decent songs and ruin them by playing then 35 times an hour!! And people wonder why I don't listen to the radio? Anyway, as I step off my soapbox, I watched the Punisher the other night on Cinemax, again. I have it on DVD, yet I still watched it on TV. Silly, isn't it? Unfortunately I don't have this song on my Ipod any longer. I took the soundtrack off a while back, since I never listened to it. That's the way it works sometimes. Instead, I'm listening to Tool's "Lateralus". Yes, I'm hyped about them releasing a new album soon. I'm still not sure of the date though. It was leaked that they'd do it during April, but from the website it says we'll be lucky to see it by mid-summer. I can wait. I've waited 5 years in between albums before, so they're way ahead of schedule on this one!

I can't remember any of my dreams from last night, except one little part, and it was of my walking to work, so nothing exciting there. Instead, I think I'll talk about a movie I saw last Friday and how I feel about it, politics, and the world we live in today. If you don't like "anti-Bush" thoughts, then go ahead and turn back now. I just thought I'd give that warning. Truthfully, I probably won't bust his balls that much, but he is the "anti-Christ" and you know it!

I went with a few friends to watch "V for Vendetta" on St. Patrick's Day. None of my friends were born in America, so it even more interesting to discuss this stuff with them than some of my friends who just think America is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I guess I should give some background on the movie prior to delving into the politics behind it.

The premise is it's sometime after 2015 in England. A fascist regime has taken power and eradicated all non-conforming non-Christian thought. There was international war prior to this, with martial law ruling most of England, and much civil unrest in it's wake. This new leader took on a Hitler-esque thought and assigned anyone who didn't believe the way he did to "concentration" camps. They called them "reallocation" camps or something like that, but it was a concentration camp, regardless. Most of the people that were sent there were homosexuals, non-whites, political dissidents, mentally-challenged, or insane. The military in charge of these camps did biological testing on the people there, and tried to use their tests for biological warfare and to build a "super" weapon (an individual). Most of the people in the camps died of various diseases or at the hands of the biological weapons testing. There was an explosion one night and the entire place burned to the ground. Most everyone died, except the person in cell #5 (V, in roman numerals). V takes it upon himself to put an end to the tyrannical government and show the people that they aren't supposed to fear their government, but it should be the other way around.

Okay, so there's so much more to this movie, but this is the jist of it. The author of the original book (if you really want to call it that. It is a set of ten 30+ page comics books, like "Sin City" was originally, before the movie), was very unhappy that the people who created the movie made it sound like they are taking personal strikes at George Bush. Not because he likes Dubya, because he despises the man, but because it was never about that. It's about the government and how evil a government can be.

So, we watch the movie and then head to a bar where we can discuss it. I immediately start the conversation with "I can see this happening in America, very easily". My first friend simply asks me "why?" "Well, as American's (and mostly Christians) it's in our blood to be obedient. We'll follow blindly like sheep while our fellow man is persecuted, torture, and killed, without asking questions. Hell, we're doing it right now. However, so of us actually like to think, and if our voice can become loud enough, will start a rebellion. So many of us are already tired of what Bush has done to our country, so can you imagine if we get a president right behind him that is the same way? It's in our nature to revolt."

My other friend then says to me "You'll never see it in your lifetime. Every "greatest civilization" has a 300 year timeline. That's the way it is. America just started it's 50th year of being the "greatest". I partially agree, but counter with "Yes, but think of the technology of those civilizations. We are so much further advanced than they were. What if our timeline is cut in half, say 150 years, due to technological advances? That means we're barely a hundred years away?"

The way I look at it is this, the people who made the movie drilled "anti-Bush" themes in there pretty hard. I try to look past that to see the big picture. They made the "leader" a powerful, Christian, take no "guff" kind of guy. Sounds like our president, right? I cannot look past what the government in the movie did, that our government may already be doing. In the movie, they eradicate everyone that doesn't agree with the "leader". Are we already doing some of that? Our government does it's fair share of forcing the poor to be poorer. It segregates communities. It turns our people against themselves. In the movie, the government intentionally sets up "terrorist" plots to kill thousands of people to scare the rest of the people into believing that the government is doing the right thing. After the accidents, they say either they have captured and killed culprits or cannot find them. Again, this sounds so very familiar.

However, like I said before, this movie was made to be a shot at Bush, I believe. I have commandeered a copy of the original comic series and plan on reading it, page for page, to see what has been altered to fit "today". Remember, the comics were written between 1982 and 1987. The year all of the "shit hit the fan" was 1997. I want to fully read this manuscript first before really telling how I feel about the movie.

As a whole though, the movie was very good and thought provoking. So many people are complaining about the symbolism of blowing up the houses of Parliament, but disregard that. If you plan on seeing the movie, go into it with an open mind and try to make judgments based on how you feel. In other words, attempt to think for yourself. It's a great idea!

Okay, I don't feel as though I really went anywhere with my rambling today, but I'm kind of tired of typing. I may revisit this topic at a later date. If you have already seen this movie, please give me your thoughts on it. I like to hear what others think, regardless if I don't agree with you.