Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The Huckabee Evolution Response




Wow, that is one of the best and articulate answers I have ever heard in one of these debates. I am really starting to get impressed by Mike Huckabee. That guy definitely has some boldness to state his beliefs for all the world to see like that. honestly, it is quite refreshing to hear someone firmly answer a question without dancing around the issues. Most, if not all, candidates would have responded with some type of vague pseudo answer in order to stay in good standings with everyone. Take the hard questions, when given, and then proceed to dancing around them. That is not the case with Huckabee. He took Wolf Blitzer's questions at point blank range and brilliantly shoved them back in his face. In essence, Huckabee stated that he believed that God was the creator and that he believed in Him. Also, he was honest in saying that he did not know whether the world/universe was created in 6 days or 6,000 years, but that he believed that God was responsible either way. I find it funny that even after Huckabee gave the perfect and concise answer to the question that was asked, Blitzer repeated the question again and said that Huckabee still didn't answer the question. Man, was Blitzer even listening to the answer that Huckabee was giving? It almost seemed as though Blitzer, or whom ever was at the end of his ear piece, if anyone, were trying to trap and back Huckabee into a corner. You can tell, however, that Blitzer was completely unprepared for such a great response from Huckabee. I can just imagine Blizter thinking to himself "dang...that was a good answer, what do I say now." Also, look at the faces of the candidates around him. They look like they are embarrassed, nervous, and a little awkward.

  • Embarrassed that someone else has the courage to say and stand by what he truly believes while they themselves are too afraid to do so.
  • Nervous that Huckabee's honesty and straightforward attitude may be exactly was America needs.
  • Feeling awkward because it has probably been a long time since they've seen someone speak with the convictions of his heart rather than speaking for the polls.

Up until now, I wasn't really leaning towards any candidate. But after seeing Huckabee in action and against his peers, I am starting to lean his way. He is also a great speaker. I have not seen any candiate speak and articulate his answers this well since Bill Clinton. Huckabee is a combination of Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Kevin Spacy.

Huckabee has:

  • Clinton's charisma and public speaking abilities
  • Ronald Reagan's wit and humor
  • Roosevelt's fire and resolve
  • Lincoln's heart and convictions
  • Kevin Spacy's looks and mannerisms--I know you notice the resemblance too.

As of 12/19/07, Huckabee as surged in the polls and is now in a virtual tie with Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination. Here's hoping we have a Huckabee/Giuliani ticket. That would be awesome.

Monday, December 17, 2007

The Huckabee/Spacy Connection

I thought to myself today, "blue, Why don't you write about how much Mike Huckabee resembles Kevin Spacy; thinking, of course, that I was the first one to notice this. Well, I was wrong big time. I googled Mike Huckabee and Kevin Spacy and came up with a lot of search results with people thinking the same thing.
Now here is a question for you. Does the fact that Huckabee sort of resembles Spacy affect how you see him as a presidential candidate? Will you be more inclined to vote for him? Well, in my honest opinion, I probably would be more inclined to vote for him. I know that sounds a little silly because one's looks do not foretell, one way or another, if the person is right for the job. But lets face it. How many more votes would Hilary Clinton get if she looked like Kate Winslet? A lot more if you ask me. That's just the way the country works. People with the better outward appearance and larger bank account tend to have more of an edge in life. An edge not by their own doing, but an edge bestowed upon them by everyone else. They only have an edge because the people give it to them. This is why JFK won over Richard Nixon. When you look at the debates they had together, it was Kennedy who looked smarter, cleverer, and more presidential. Nixon looked old and out of tune with what was happening in the world. I strongly feel that Hilary Clinton will not be our future president. There is just too much opposition standing in her way, not to mention many years of tradition. There has never been a female American president. It is going to come down to a fire fight between the Obama/Edwards ticket and the Huckabee/Giuliani ticket. I know that at this time it is Clinton who is leading in the Democratic polls, but I think that the Democratic base will realise that their best chance at securing the presidency will be with Obama and Edwards. I have nothing against Clinton. It's just that I can see the same thing that has happened to Mitt Romney happen to Her. The Conservative Republican base is uniting under Huckabee. The last time I check the national polls, Huckabee was dead even with Giuliani, with both being way ahead of Romney. Imagine what would happen if Giuliani and Huckabee became the Republican ticket. And especially if Hilary Clinton/Obama or Edwards was there oposing ticket. The Republicans would rally and unite like never before. Huckabee would gather the conserive evangelicals and Giuliani, being quite liberal for a Republican, would gather the independents and some disgruntled liberals. The only shot the Democrats have is if they throw the Clinton dynasty idea out the window and go with the younger and more hip and relevant duo of Obama and Edwards. It is definitely going to be a great race and I cannot wait for the debates to commence. I do not know about the rest of you, but my money's on Kevin Spacy...I mean Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani.
Note: Will the better looking candidates succeed? It has been that way in the past, lets see if it happens again.

  • Bill Clinton beat George Bush senior.
  • Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole.
  • George Bush beat Gore/Lieberman---Bush and Gore where a tie, but Chaney beats Lieberman hands down. Lieberman looks like a chipmunk (no offence intended).
  • Bush beats Kerry--this one was too close to call, but I think that Bush gets the nod, barely. Kerry's face was sagging all over the place before he got botox, or whatever he did.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Batman: The Animated Series



I am vengeance...I am the night...I am Batman! Not too many characters could get away with saying something so outlandish as that, but Batman could. When he said it, you knew that he could back it up with a beat down. Till this day, Batman TAS remains one of the most well crafted and liked animated cartoons of all time. It came on to the scene in 92 and heavily took advantage of the success of Tim Burton's Batman Returns. Although Batman TAS was inspired by Burton's incarnation of the caped crusader, it had an element that the Burton films did not possess. It possessed the ability to completely flesh out the Character and persona of the dark knight. We were given the chance to see a boy, overwhelmed with a life of tragedy, overcome his fears and pain to become the savior of an entire city.


The series also dealt with moral themes and issues that were pertinent in life. One of these key issues dealt with was vengeance. Batman's character, of course, was born out of it. After the deaths of his parents, Bruce promised that he would never let anything like that ever happen again. He would bring justice to those who would be the bearers of injustice. And after years of training is body, mind, and spirit, he became the Batman. This quest however, would not be an easy one. Intertwine with this quest for justice, lay hidden pains and the desire for vengeance. This pain was fuelled, in part, by the fact that he blamed himself for being unable to protect his family. In the episode "Nothing to Fear," Batman comes face to face with that fear.

In this episode, the Scarecrow hits Batman with a dart filled with fear toxin. Batman begins to hallucinate that his dead father is rejecting him as a failure. He struggles with these images, but he manages to overcome this fear. He forces himself to realize that these visions are not real and convinces himself that his father is proud of him. Batman then defeats the Scarecrow's henchmen and overcomes the Scarecrow.

There are two things that , for me , really made the show great:


  1. The music--Shirley Walker was the perfect choice. She took Danny Elfman's music from the Burton films and totally expanded upon them and made it her own. In my opinion, her score is just as iconic and just as great as anything that can be found the Elfman scores. It is the best music in in any cartoon series, period.

  2. The voice acting--Many people, including myself, find Kevin Conroy's Batman to be the best incarnation of the caped crusader. His voice was perfect not only for the Batman but for Bruce Wayne as well. Another voice actor who really made the show great was Mark Hamill. His Joker was simply fantastic. He was always good for a laugh.

The character of Batman from the series transcended even it's own show. Kevin Conroy's Batman has appeared in several DC animated series including:



  • Batman: TAS

  • The Adventures of Batman and Robin

  • The Batman/Superman Adventures

  • The Justice League

  • The Justice League unlimited

  • Batman Beyond

He has also appeared in several animated movies including:



  • Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

  • Mystery of the Batwoman

  • Batman: Subzero

  • Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

Throughout all of these series, one thing always stayed the same, and that was Batman. The animations may have changed, the Stories and characters may have changed, but Batman was the constant that made these shows worth watching.


One thing I cannot figure out is, how could the guys at Warner make such great animated Batman flicks and yet produce bantha fodder in the live action department? (Batman & Robin, Batman Forever) Luckily, Christopher Nolan came in to same the day. Batman Begins was absolutely fantastic. And The Dark Knight, after seeing the official trailer, appears to be poised to take the Mantle of greatest Batman flick of all time.


Friday, December 14, 2007

Robotech

The 1980s produced so many classic cartoon series. In fact, I would even say that great cartoons were still being produced all the way through the mid 90s, before the Pokeman era became prominent. One of the very best cartoons of this era was a little show called Robotech. Robotech, if you do not know, is an adaptation of three separate Japanese television series. A company called Harmony Gold bought the rights to all three and reedited them in to one coherent story line. The three shows were The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. Robotech aired in 1985.


One of the reasons that I like Robotech so much is that it was one of the first cartoons of that time to have heart, drama, and a sense of realism in the midst of implausible settings. It was one of the first cartoons in which major characters where allowed to be killed off (You know you were all fighting back the tears when Roy Fokker bit the dust). Up until Robotech, what did we have? Rocky and Bullwinkle? Johny Quest? All we had were cartoons that were emotionally void of any kind of character depth and the issues in which we real humans deal with on a daily basis. Even the fantastic Transformers, which I really like, didn't really have stories and elements that really dug deep into its characters. Each story basically had the same outline: autobots protect earth, decepticons attack and try to steal or use earth's source of energon as a weapon, autobots fight back and win. No character ever got badly hurt and no one ever died. There was no sense of cause and effect. It wasn't till Transformers the Movie, in 1986, that the Transformer's started to depict the heart and true consequences of war. Sadly, transformers went downhill since then in both quality of animation and story (Transformers Armada).

I remember the first time I saw Robotech. I saw it once and got hooked. The story telling was terrific and the animation was really good. Well, not as good as the animation that is produced now days, but still good nonetheless. The show, for continuity reasons, was divided into three chapters:




  • The Macross Saga (humanity's battle against the Zentraedi, a race of giant warriors who are sent to earth to retrieve the flagship of the Robotech Master Zor. The ship contains the last known source of Protoculture in the universe).


  • The Masters (the creators of the Zentraedi, the Robotech Masters, attempt to take up where the Zentraedi left off, and capture the protoculture held within the remains of the SDF-1).


  • The New Generation (the alien Invid have been alerted to the existence of Protoculture on Earth by events that transpired at the end of the Second Robotech War. The planet is conquered, then enslaved, and it is up to the Robotech Expeditionary Force to retake their ancestral homeland).

Besides great story telling and drama, what else was good about Robotech? Oh yeah, the mecha. To this day, the Skull one remains, in my opinion, the coolest airplane/mecha on the planet.

Here are two very good Robotech vids.


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