Sentinel of Liberty – Rat Lines Pt 3/4

TITLE: Rat Lines Pt. 3/4

RATING: NC-17

SUMMARY: Prior to Dr. Heinrich Zemo’s plan to turn the tide of the war Steve Rogers and James Barnes witness the atrocities the Nazi party has perpetrated against humanity.

WORDS: 1464

NOTES: Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America finds himself face to face with a heinous war criminal of W.W. II in current times. This is the story of the Sentinel of Liberty dealing out much earned justice.

 

Adolf Hitler does not trust men.  He uses them.  The National Socialist party and his allies are resources on a chess board.  Each piece performs their assigned move.  No one knows his master plan, or the final solution.

Hitler embraces Aryan supremacy. They are the white skinned, cold eyed, dominant, supreme fighting men of earth. German archeologist Rosenburg calls them nordisch atlantic, the descendants of Atlantis. They call themselves the Master Race. 

It is rare when he allows someone into his inner circle. Johann Schmidt is such a confidant.  He is unique among Hitler’s tools, and no mere pawn.  He is the embodiment of Nazi intimidation.  Personally indoctrinated by Hitler his sole purpose is to create terror.  In his wake, he leaves destruction and mayhem.

He is the Red Skull. When he dons his skeletal mask he is born again. He is not hiding. He is revealed and transformed.

His black leather overcoat reaches down to his polished boots.  Cloaked in darkness his visage is a crimson exclamation mark. All men cower before him and he relishes it.

Before him are Dr. Heinrich Zemo’s plans for an android army. They are brilliant.  The Baron’s blue line illustrations depict a technological leap.  One the Red Skull cannot wait to unleash upon America.

He plans to eliminate his rival Baron Zemo, and ensure the 4^th Reich genesis.  It is a simple but brilliant plan. But not before he has Zemo perform a few more simple tasks.

The Red Skull raises his Bakelite cigarette holder up to his grisly face, taking a long drag. The knock on the door interrupts his revelry. Smoke leaks around his teeth as he smiles. He stops smiling and the smoke exits through his nose.

He rolls the plans up as Father Kurt Warren enters the laboratory. The Red Skull’s cigarette holder points menacingly as the scrawny specimen of humanity crosses the floor. His steps are tentative and fearful.

The Red Skull became aware of Warren when he joined the Hitler Youth as a child.  Now he is the perfect pawn as Dresden’s pastor.  His ties to the Catholic Church will allow him to smuggle the gold from Dresden to America and fund The Red Skull’s plans.

“Heir Skull, you asked for me?” Father Warren said timidly.  He smoothed his black robes, and pulled at his white collar nervously.

“Yes”, said the Red Skull.

“I did indeed.”

Nick Fury and Alpha Team’s reconnaissance of the area had determined the threat minimal.  The structures exit is guarded by two soldiers stationed at the front door. The smoke from their cigarettes trailed into the night while they stood laughing and joking with each other. There is no light coming from inside the building.

They neutralized the soldiers securing Bravo Team’s exit strategy.  Across from the target sat a suspicious warehouse. There are worn paths in the snow circling the structure.  The flood lights illuminate the darkness closest to the building.  It also provides ample cover for Fury and his men to move in close without being seen.

He could see how aerial photos would have been misleading. Nick knew the moment he saw it they had received bad intelligence.   He signals for his men to change objectives.  They sit in the shadows waiting.

Fury observed the insignia on the soldiers.  These were no normal soldiers, they were elite guard.  Whatever they were guarding they meant to keep. Several intervals later they had a pattern for the soldier’s circuit.

Alpha Team was flanking the entrance to the warehouse as the patrol passed by.  They waited patiently for the next interval to converge on the entrance. Fury pulls the pin and tosses the N.F.D.D. grenade around the corner. 

Father Warren opens the door and exits the warehouse. He looks down as an object rolls up to his feet. The grenade explodes with a loud flash and bang. He drops everything and rolls around on the ground in agony.

The soldiers fire blindly into the night.  Team Alpha turns the corner and opens fire in short controlled bursts with their M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles. Amidst the screams of the dying Father Warren ran.

Pinkerton takes aim at the fleeing lone survivor.  Nick reaches out knocking the weapon down.  The rifle fires wide of its target. The bullet plunges into the snow feet from the father.

“No civilian casualties”, Nick says into the night.  He motions for Alpha Team to enter the building.  He follows close behind until he sees the Father’s discarded debris. He kneels down and picks up the papers the preacher had dropped. His jaw drops as the intent of the papers registers.

Small gun fire rips him back into reality.  He storms into the warehouse behind his Howler’s and returns fire.  They work in tandem maneuvering their way through the warehouse.  It is littered with small machinery.

Several minutes and hundreds of rounds later the warehouse is secure.  Men lay dead or dying.  Fury looks into the eyes of one as he rambles.

“We are the superior race”, he said as his face contorted in a bloody mess. 

“Mmmo” His last gasp was barely a vowel, a death rattle.

“We all die the same, calling out for our mothers and wondering how I am not the hero.”  Fury says as he chews on his cigar.

“Welcome to the war” he says angrily.

“That’s the problem with ideologies, you polarize and people die.  Two world wars back to back you would think people would realize.” Fury mumbles under his breath.

Fury opens the door to the holding room. In the room huddled together on the floor lay their mission’s objective. They were a little worse for wear.  He motions for Pinkerton to release them from their restraints while he secures their exit.

When they left less than a minute later Bravo Team was ready and waiting for them.  With their four French resistance fighters in tow they stole out into the surrounding night.  Dresden fades into darkness and the past.

Two hours later they were well hidden in the cedar line.  Fury pulls Captain America off to the side. He motions for quiet before speaking.

“We have a problem”, Fury says in a hushed tone. He hands him Father Warren’s papers. The papers contain directions to meet up with Dr. Heinrich Zemo in London. Dates, times, and places for stealing a top secret mechanized drone rocket and its use against Allied forces.

“I need you and Bucky to go to London and stop Baron Zemo.”  Fury says as Captain America reads the documents.

Steve couldn’t believe a Catholic priest would conspire with the Nazis.  Let alone plot with them to perform a terrorist act.  His world is turning upside down.

Today, Now.

The Cardinal walks briskly down the steps into Saint Peter’s Basilica. Crossing the courtyard is the man Captain America and Bucky had pursued from Dresden all the way to London. Justice has taken decades.

They had plowed headlong into that fateful day with Baron Zemo. Steve could see the Baron punching his fist into the air with glee. He had launched the rocket. Steve stopped himself from thinking. He blocked out the images by sheer force of will.

His right hand shook involuntarily. He gritted his teeth as rage welled up in his chest.  He walked determinedly towards the conspirator.

Steve steadied himself and held his hand up making the priest stop abruptly in his tracks.  The Cardinal’s eyes cast about.  He knew he was caught.  Agents were flanking their position.

Here stood the man complicit in Bucky’s death. He had escaped while Steve had lain frozen in the arctic waters. Steve stood as the man’s accuser seventy years later.

Steve had read many facts in the Cardinal’s dossier. After his return to Italy, the man had facilitated in smuggling millions seized by the German government to Vatican City.  He had conspired with Bishop Giovanni Battista Montini who orchestrated the escape of dozens on Nazi war criminals from civilian internment camps in Italy to Argentina.

The German’s had fled Vatican City using underground passageways, with all the money they had seized.  These rat lines had allowed dozens of Nazis disguised as clergy to escape justice. They had made large financial gains for services rendered.

Warren had hidden in the Vatican City sanctuary.  The sanctuary included new identity papers, blood money, and a safe haven. He had escaped.

Steve looked at the man who stood before him. He looked into the man’s eyes and saw a heinous war criminal.  He clenched his hands into fists and stymied his urge to beat the man senseless. It was not a just thought, he chided himself.

“My son you have vengeance in your eyes.” The Cardinal said crisply.

“And you have death on your hands” Steve said coldly.

 

Sentinel of Liberty – Rat Lines Pt 2/4

TITLE: Rat Lines Pt. 2/4

RATING: NC-17

SUMMARY: Prior to Dr. Heinrich Zemo’s plan to turn the tide of the war Steve Rogers and James Barnes witness the atrocities the Nazi party has perpetrated against humanity.

WORDS: 1204

NOTES: Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America finds himself face to face with a heinous war criminal of W.W. II in current times. This is the story of the Sentinel of Liberty dealing out much earned justice.

February 11, 1945.

“Target Sighted.” Bucky said into the cold darkness.

Under the cover of night they had parachuted into Germany.  Another four hours march through the snow covered hills brought them to their destination.  But nothing had prepared them for what they would find.

Captain America stood waist deep in the snow drift by the copse of cedars surrounded by an elite team of commandos. He lowered his binoculars and waited patiently. Camouflaged in the snow with him Sergeant Fury, his Howling Commandos, and Bucky Barnes together they represent America’s undying spirit.

Under the patriots cowl was Steve Rogers.  It had been 5 years since Project: Rebirth.  He is a young man. His adaption to the super soldier serum had exceeded their expectations.  At times he found the burden of being the symbol of America daunting. Luckily he did not bear the burden alone.

He knew their casualty numbers, had calculated the odds of their campaigns.  The future appeared bleak. Their losses have been high, and resources were getting low. But the German military were now reeling from Operation Thunderclap and had retreated across the River Oder.  The end of the war was in sight.  They could be standing in Berlin by summer.

The prisoner train whistled shrilly, shooting a huge plume of white smoke into the crystal blue sky.  The trailing smoke pointed like an incriminating finger as the engine inched its way across the horizon heading west. As it pulled into Dresden, it blanketed the stop like a smothering pillow.

Dresden is the 7^th largest city in Germany.  It was bitter cold. Waste deep in snow cold.  It is the coldest place in Germany and undamaged by the war. The city sat nestled between the snowy embrace of the valley and the River Elbe.  Among the baroque style buildings lay hundreds of factories servicing the German wartime engine.

Steve knew three days from now nothing would remain.  Here are the factories for poison gas, anti-aircraft, and the German Militaries administrative staff responsible for continuing their war efforts.   Most importantly though is Baron Strucker, and a trainload of captured freedom fighters.

“Alright you yahoos listen up!” Sergeant Fury barked.

Fury chewed on his cigar as he unfolded a map of the city.  He pointed to a warehouse and circled it with a grease pencil.  He then drew two assault paths marked Alpha and Bravo with multiple waypoints.

“Team Alpha, will be Ralston, Manelli, Pinkerton and myself. Team Bravo, will be Cap, Barnes, Dugan, and Jones.”  Nick took his cigar and pointed at the waypoints.

“This is where they will likely post guards, any questions?”  Nick looked into the eyes of his teammates and saw they were ready.  They stowed their gear, double checked their camouflage gear and began wading their way through the snow to Dresden. Two hours later they split up outside the city.

Steve unstrapped his bullet-proof badge shaped shield from his back. He buckled the shield to his left arm. The press team called his first shield the star-spangled badge of courage.  His second shield he simply called Justice. He checked the clip for his M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, tapping it on his helmet before inserting cartridge. When he saw his team was ready they entered the city still under the cover of night. 

Bucky grimaced. Steve could tell he was scared.  Bucky took each step as deliberately as the previous.  There was nothing tentative, his mind was set.  He flipped the safety off, and nodded briskly at Steve.

James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes had simply wanted to belong.  When his father passed away, the military had taken the 16 year old and trained him extensively in covert operations.  It seemed the title of sidekick included being a young protégé.  He wasn’t that much younger than Steve.  Bucky had never taken the mascot title seriously. He was a soldier not a child.

Like everyone else during this crazy time, he wanted to do his part.   The army was the only family he had. It was where he wanted to be.

Bucky is an expert ranked marksman. His demolition, tracking and survival expertise make him a lethal combination.  He is a good man.  The army had made him a lethal soldier. At times Steve feared he was too good. 

Blind patriotism is dangerous, it cuts both ways. It breeds bigotry. Differentiating because of race, color, creed, sex or religion always leads to the downfall of civilization.  Segregating by haves and have not’s leaves no room for growth and society begins to turn on itself.

They reached the first waypoint. The German soldiers were young.  They were too young, nothing but kids.  They had the uniforms and weapons of soldiers. They were unprepared.  They were completely taken aback when the Sentinel of Liberty and his trusty sidekick stormed them.  Several waypoints and 15 soldiers later the target was in sight.

They had quietly and effectively neutralized all threats to their objective. Steve looked up into the night sky and saw the clouds approaching the moon.  He held his hand up and signaled his team to halt.  He waited patiently for the cloud cover to block the moon light.  Their shadows disappeared as they were enveloped by the darkness.

In the darkness freedom charged.  They sprinted towards the doors. The crunch of their boots in the snow sounded like a freight train chugging menacingly with quick succession.  Two soldiers stood at the entrance of the warehouse.  Their faces turned quizzical at the oddness of the sounds intruding in the night.

Captain America used the butt of his semi-automatic weapon, rendering the first soldier unconscious.   The second soldier reached for his Luger.  Bucky grabbed the guard’s wrists preventing the weapon from being aimed and head butted with deadly accuracy.  The guard slumped down next to his friend, dead to the world.

Captain America and Bucky entered the warehouse. Dugan and Jones pulled the soldiers prostrate bodies inside.  With the entrance secure, they investigated their surroundings.  Steve knew by this time, Nick and his unit would have secured their escape route and the exit from the warehouse.

Bucky looked at Steve and frowned.  “That was too easy. This place should be guarded better.”

“I agree” they all said in unison.  Something wasn’t right and they all knew it.

Steve inspected the interior of the warehouse. The loading cranes attached to the ceiling appeared to be well used but he saw no signs of prisoners.  This warehouse was not for prisoner containment. 

The floor was occupied by row upon row of metal cabinets.    There were no prisoners. However there were several machines with IBM logos and miscellaneous paper cards.

Dugan picked a card off the desk.  It had holes punched into it.  Steve registered the portent of the cards. They were tabulation cards used for collecting data.  He opened a cabinet door, sliding the drawer out.  He calculated the number of columns and rows. Unwillingly he estimated 11 million cards.  It was a number he did not need to know.

“We aren’t going to find the prisoners are we?” Bucky asked. 

Steve lowered his head, seemingly in defeat. He motioned for them to round up and head for the exit.  Their intelligence had been wrong. 

Sentinel of Liberty – Rat Lines Pt 1/4

TITLE: Rat Lines Pt. 1/4

RATING: NC-17

SUMMARY: Prior to Dr. Heinrich Zemo’s plan to turn the tide of the war Steve Rogers and James Barnes witness the atrocities the Nazi party has perpetrated against humanity.

WORDS: 861

NOTES: Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America finds himself face to face with a heinous war criminal of W.W. II in current times.  This is the story of the Sentinel of Liberty dealing out much earned justice.

Today, Now.

Steve Rogers sat on the steps of the Vatican square admiring the architecture. The courtyard is actually round, and supported by 60 foot tall columns.   He wore his white collared shirt un-tucked from his jeans and black leather loafers.  Legs crossed, his right thigh acted as a desktop for his sketch book.  His unruly mop of blonde hair poked out in so many directions as unmanageable now as it was over 50 years ago.

Steve had jumped at the opportunity to participate in Operation: Rebirth.  He had been demoralized after being turned down by the army.  At the time Art School seemed capricious while the world was again engulfed in war.  Revived 50 years later he is still serving his country as the sentinel of liberty, Captain America.

In his absence his family and friends had passed on.  The loves in his life had faded. To Steve though, it was yesterday.  The world had moved on.  Steve made a concerted effort to reacquaint himself with this brave new world.  It seemed Orwellian to him at times.  They seem quick to cast aside freedoms so many had laid down their lives to protect for a perception of security.  But like any democracy, the definition of freedom changes with the people.

Steve shook off his ruminations. The afternoon sun shone brightly in the summer day.  People walked to and from the square officially known as Saint Peter’s Basilica.  It is commonly called the greatest church of man.  From the History Channel Steve had learned many things since his awakening. He knew the men who had been in these hallowed halls had not deserved the privilege.

While millions had died, they had collaborated.  They allowed billions in gold to be smuggled out of the country to Argentina.  Provided support for smuggling out war criminals.  Steve had sat in shock as he learned just how fallible men were.  No uniform, military, religious or otherwise absolved you of these kinds of sins.

From 1945 to 1951 many individuals were tried for their war crimes.  However not all could be apprehended.  Many had escaped disguised as the same priests and monks that had helped them murder 12 million people worldwide.  The murder of these undesirables comprises the worst genocide perpetrated by mankind.

Steve had lain frozen in the Arctic Ocean while time marched on. The Nuremburg trials, hippy revolution, generation lost, and the digital age blinked by while he slept the sleep of the dead.  He awoke to a stark contrast a stranger in a strange land.

Steve rubbed a small Conti crayon stick on his artist’s sketchbook.  He drowned out memories of times gone by. He immersed himself in the here and now.  The faint sounds of war called hauntingly to him.  He turned his iPod up drowning out the insistent past with Isaac Brock’s Baby Blue Sedan. He too, was doing this best he can.

He admired this mornings sketch. Using his index finger he blended the edges of a caricature of a mother and child holding hands in the center of the Basilica.  It was one of many sketches he had created during this month long stake out.  He looked up from the book, and scanned the courtyard. 

Visual analysis intruded in his brain.  He calculated trajectories, response plans, and worse case scenarios before forcibly willing himself to disengage.  He noted several Interpol and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents strategically positioned throughout the courtyard.  The International Police and Espionage agencies were cooperating in order to apprehend a particularly heinous war criminal. 

Steve calculated the odds of their intelligence being accurate. The war criminal they sought may not be alive or they may have received bad intelligence. Recent events had certainly taught the world to accept American Intelligence with a grain of salt. Hindsight being what it is there had been no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.  In fact the American government had perpetrated a great lie and for what purpose. Steve grimaced, different times. He brought himself back into the here and now.

A Cardinal exited the building and began descending the steps of the Basilica.  Steve bristled. Despite the red and black robes, the weight gained from a sedentary life style, and the aged continence; he recognized the man instantly.  The hairs on the back of nape stood up.  Steve wondered how this man had eluded justice.  He turned off his iPod and began packing his art supplies. He did this calmly all the while, holding down the bile building up at the back of his throat.

The man stepped onto the stone cobbled courtyard.  His shadow followed studiously. It had been years since he had been this exposed in the Vatican City.  He would regret it, and much more before the day was done.  An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. raised his hand to his ear speaking into his hidden microphone disguised as a cough.  Several Interpol agents turned simultaneously. The microphone in Steve’s ear beeped and the authoritative voice of Nick Fury intruded.

“Target sighted.”  Nick barked.  Steve closed his eyes and found himself back in the final days of war torn Germany.

February 11, 1944.

“Target Sighted.” Bucky said into the bitter cold night.

Sentinel of Liberty – Rat Lines Pt 2/4

Corduroy Vs. Kawasaki

 

I recently downloaded Comic Life beta 3 and tried my hand at making a guest artist appearance on www.corduroyninja.com.  For the past week I have been getting more familiar with the Wacom Intuos 3 tablet I purchased right before moving here to Philadelphia.  The tablet has been absolutely awesome to use.  I look forward to trying my hand at usung it for ideas on have for www.zombieapocalypse.net.

Tastes great with ketchup!

 

            “Dragon*Con is America’s largest, multi-media, popular arts convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film.”, according to their website www.dragoncon.org.  I went last year with friends for the first time and was absolutely stunned but the sheer volume of people most dressed up as a favorite character from a comic, cartoon, television series, or movie.  I found out later there was something like 20,000 attendees.  This year they reportedly had 35,000, and while it is spread out between Ritz, Hyatt, and the Marriott it was still quite crowded.

            This past year I worked on video for a project a friend of mine is writing called www.dangerdangerdanger.com.  It’s an online adult comic produced by www.thebebbedoll.com about a deranged family of killers.  The reality is best described as just one step to the left of ours.  They have magic, and science and it’s all mixed together with just enough adult vinyl garments to keep people wanting more, or less depending upon your disposition. The interesting part of the story is that it is told from their perspective. 

So while this year was still about having fun, members of our intrepid group were out promoting themselves with http://www.troma.com/.  They are one of the oldest Independent Film company and if you haven’t at least heard about The Toxic Avenger I suggest you go rent it now just for the cheese factor.

One of my favorite cartoons right now is Venture Brothers, it’s an awesome show, funny as shit.  The con had a panel on the show and there were two groups of people dressed up as Monarch and his henchmen.  I think these guys were the best.  Too damn funny if you ask me.

There were definitely lots of great costumes. Sexy women dressed scantily are never a bad thing in my book.  There had to have been tons of Vinyl lubricants to make the world that shiny is all I’m saying. Here are some of what I thought were the most interesting.  By interesting I don’t mean least dressed, hell I saw a how chick in a g-string and a fishnet top with pasties, but it was no character I recognized.  Still looked awesome, but not the point.

Well that’s all I have for now, although I expect to get some video of the absolutely hysterical time we had at karaoke. Unfortunately we had run out of batteries when the guy from Sad Kermit did a song.  He had the place rolling on the floors, funny, funny man. I hope you guys enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the show.  Hopefully next year I will actually participate in the costumes, I felt a little out of place only have a comic book t-shirt on.  So remember, “Do not meddle in the Affairs of Dragons, For You are Crunchy and Taste Great With Ketchup! ”

West Laurel Hill Cemetery

So I am settling in on a new job right outside of Philadelphia in Bala Cynwyd.  I haven’t moved into my place in Center City on Chestnut Street yet, so I am still commuting from Limerick which is a little crazy.  On several occasions I’ve sat in traffic for several hours, once it was four.  I have since learned to judge the back up and decide when to hang out at the King of Prussia Mall, apparently the second largest mall in the states.  It’s pretty big, lot’s of kewl stores, a great little comic shop.

 Well the other day on the way home the road to get onto 76 Belmont Avenue was jacked and I knew I wouldn’t even make it to the mall.  So I turned into West Laurel Hill Cemetery which I have seen for the past couple months.  I was suprised by how large this cemetery is, I spent an hour exploring and I think I may have covered about a quarter of the ground.

This place is beautiful, and I plan on going back and getting a few more pictures of the sculptures.

Let them eat L4yer Cake

Shew ok all caught up on last weeks shows. Watched my TiVo’d SG-1, Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, 4400, Entourage, and the latest in the lineup
Rome. As you can see I am a bit eclectic in my tastes. I have to say movie wise over the weekend I watched last weeks Best Buy purchase L4yer Cake and it blew me away. Mind you this is brought to us by the same fellow J.J. Connolly who produced Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch. Which in and of themselves are awesome movies. But I have to say I think L4yer Cake is wittier than them.The gist of the story is a nameless drug dealer “XXXX” who is smart, charismatic and truly the best anti-hero I have seen on screen in quite awhile played by Daniel Craig. XXXX is plagued by a series of spiraling events orchestrated by a nemises unknown. The catalyst for his misfortune is his eminent retirement. XXXX’s boss who has one last job for him and calamity ensues.Like the movies namesake, the plot unfolds like a layer cake, each layer revealed as the players betray, ally and struggle to survive. What starts out as a pebble dropped in their little pool of existence quickly ripples into an ever larger web of mystery. What is best about the movie is that while it is truly brutal in its plot the treatment is not. There are no massive gun battles, no bullets ricocheting off of the walls from endless clips from
Hollywood guns. In fact the lead character hates weapons on principle alone, and when there is a death you watch him torment himself about it. So if you like Thriller, Crime, Action, and Drama check out this movie, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Swimming with adults

I went to a fantasy football draft night last night, and before you ask no I wasn’t drafting. I was the chef, and no the first round of burgers and dogs didn’t turn out, there was a slight mishap with a grease fire. But that isn’t why I am posting.

During the party I ended up talking to a co-worker I seldom get a chance to chat with and a good friend of mine who also wasn’t participating in the draft either. Apparently there were a couple times the three of us were too loud for those super geeks who were closet d&d players but now it’s ok to play “Fantasy”. Of course if you had painted minitures, stat sheets, and could role dice to determine who was victorious maybe I would be a little more interested heh, you know a little more skills, luck, and interaction other than statistics, and passive entertainment.

Anyway come to find out my co-worker and I have some simular interests in comedy and animation. I told him I am reading this book Stop Motion about the craft of Animation, and apparently he is interested in generating computer animation. Well, you know how conversation meander, anatomy of a shark bite, gromit, secret life of Tom Thumb, gruesome cuts and scars incurred were some of our toipics heh. We talked about Kids in the Hall, and some recent animated movies. He asked if I had seen Robot Chicken on Adult Swim. While I have seen several of the shows on the Adult Swim lineup I had not seen any of these 15 minute skits.

Well low and behold when I got home Robot Chicken was just starting and I have to say I laughed my freakin ass off. This show is awesome. It’s stop motion animated skits using action figures from the past so yes this includes Super Friends, Transformers and all kinds of stuff. I don’t know how they handle copy rights but screw that I just watched it and laughed hysterically. I kid you not I was tearing up, the whole bit with Real World Metropolis with various super heroes was priceless.

I don’t want to give away too much, but I have to say damn funny. I looked online and the first season isn’t out on dvd, and the schedule on Adult Swim is all jacked, I set up a TiVo for weekly and then I found out it comes on at all different times, but at least they have it posted on their site.

Crash into me

            There’s nothing like a good bottle of wine and an excellent movie to help you gain a little perspective on life.  One such movie is Crash and the current wine of choice is Pinot Grigio.  While I have seen this style of movie before, a series of what seem like random events which ties up into a neat little bow of everything in life is related in movies like Traffic, and 21 Grams; Paul Higgis has done a splendid job in creating a pantheon of characters.

            In case you don’t know Higgis is the one, who’s entertained us with the movie Million Dollar Baby, and wrote many episodes of the following series: Due South, Walker Texas Ranger, and thirtysomething.

            The characters aren’t all simply at an accident at the same time. They are the HMO workers for the father of the policeman responding to an accident, or the brother who has been the guardian angel who fails because he can’t save you from yourself.  It’s sad, and poignant, and inspiring all at the same time. It’s not often you get a tumult of emotions in a movie like this.  They roll over you like waves, anger at one character, sympathetic to another and then suddenly the roles reverse and you are sympathetic  where you were angry at and vice versa.

            The tagline for the movie is “You think you know who you are. You have no idea”, an exchange between two police officers player by Matt Dillon and Ryan Phillipe.  While this dialog is constructed from a tense educational moment from a veteran police officer to a rookie it’s exchangeable with every single character in the movie.

            A word of warning though, this movie openly discusses racism, classism and the conditions for fostering these flawed philosophies.  If see this type dialog on screen upsets you, then this is not the movie for you.  But, if you enjoy movies where you and your friends can discuss characters and everything is not readily apparent this is a good movie for you.  I hope yhou enjoy it as much as I did.

I heard it all before, but it bears repeating now. – White Stripes

            Funny thing about Halloween weekend, I ended up not watching a single scary movie; and Doom doesn’t count.  I recently signed up for Netflix, yet another example of the de-socialization of
America.  While I haven’t been able to keep up with the deliveries it is nice to have ready to go a group of movies to watch.  This weekend was Amen, a historical drama about the level of knowledge America, England, and the
Vatican had about the atrocities perpetrated by Germanys SS during WW II.

            While I continued to be outraged by the upper echelon of
Germany post the War to End All Wars, I am shocked and appalled at the so called pious.  All the way up the ladder to the Pope knew about the concentration camps and the planned genocide of eleven billion Jews but didn’t want to speak out for fear of retaliation by the Germans.  Meanwhile even men inside of the SS were begging the
Vatican to speak out in order to educate and effectively motivate the German populace to oust Hitler.  So they enabled Germany to wipe out Billions in the name of keeping the peace, tragic and unforgivable.

            A co-worker of mine this morning asked me how my weekend was and I told her about the movie.  Or rather I started to when she cut me short and said “It’s in the past, why do you watch stuff like that?”  What the fuck did I just hear, I happened to be facing my computer at the time and I turned around and asked her to repeat.  I guess she understood the underlying meaning and started the make up an excuse; “it’s just that it’s so depressing.”  Ok everyone knows that I am a little patronizing from time to time, and it can be annoying especially when I use clichés to illustrate my point.

            “Unless we learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat out mistakes.” I said.  This prompted her to say we all know about it.  But the thing is there are people who say it didn’t happen, and furthermore there are people who don’t know it happened during WWI as well.  It’s actually what happened in WWI that gave Hitler the idea that he could get away with it in WWII, so my point is this.  Unless we know, do our due diligence we will just repeat it over and over again.  Hell isn’t that what is happening in
Iraq right now, our guys are over there, entrenched, angry, and unable to escape and so when they get a chance to lash out they do, and it’s been over the top.  Didn’t we learn our lesson in
Vietnam, that unless we circulate our troops they’ll continue to become more violent.  I don’t blame them, I don’t excuse them either, I am just offering an observation and shouldn’t someone else be doing the same thing in the white house?!

            I ended up going to the movies and seeing Doom, which was entertaining.  I thought it appropriate that I see at least one “Horror” movie on Halloween weekend.  My friend who I went and saw it with wasn’t up for a real scary movie so I settled for this.  She complained that it was the Rock, and then complained after words saying Rock didn’t raise his eyebrow per her expectation.  I was like,……wtf man I thought you didn’t like him because he did shit like that, and now when he doesn’t do what you expect him to do, actually try and act a little, which I thought he did a decent job (read entertaining) we’ll bash him.  Ah well can’t win for loosing I guess.

            So all in all I think the weekend was good.  Couple interesting movies, finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and started the Prisoner of Azkaban.  Have to say I should have been reading these books a long time ago, sorry Justin and Sumaya.  Oh and I don’t remember what I dreamt about last night, but I kept waking up thinking it was way past the time I should be getting up to go to work.