A movie theater chain bites the dust

 As I returned to the movies as recently as last Friday, this sort of escaped me. A theater chain Arclight has shuttered seemingly permanently. They did have an outpost in Lincoln Park here in Chicago where I've never went to the movies, but I did see their lobby in addition to a lounge and their concession stand also had a place to buy merchandise. This news just shows the longterm effects of this pandemic's mitigations efforts.

WWE Network purchased by NBC

 Here's a tweet from none other than Stephanie McMahon who's touting this new development. Ultimately WWE Network programming will become part of the offerings to NBC's Peacock service. And I understand the price for joining Peacock will be much lower than the WWE Network's often touted price of $9.99

Excited for @peacockTV to become the new home of @WWENetwork in the U.S., helping to bring premium @WWE content (including @WrestleMania!!!) to a much broader audience and to provide the @WWEUniverse with a wide offering of live sports, news, film & TV! https://t.co/MPzcxjL3IV

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) January 25, 2021

Chadwick Boseman R.I.P.

Change of pace time, however, it's a sad change of pace. I can't believe that Chadwick Boseman has passed away.

I found out about it through ig and it shocked the hell out of me. Boseman who is well known for playing the Marvel Comics superhero Black Panther was still a very young man having passed away from colon cancer. I want to say I had no idea he was ill, but then that's his business and for those that he cares about.

This really bums me out terribly.

View this post on Instagram

It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman.⁣ ⁣ Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to stage IV. ⁣ ⁣ A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. ⁣ ⁣ It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther. ⁣ ⁣ He died in his home, with his wife and family by his side. ⁣ ⁣ The family thanks you for your love and prayers, and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time. ⁣ ⁣ Photo Credit: @samjonespictures

A post shared by Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) on Aug 28, 2020 at 7:11pm PDT

It's been quite a while since I've covered anything going on in Hollywood since I am a film buff. I miss watching a flick and am glad some movie theaters in the city has reopened.

I wanted to opine on what's been going on in sports for a while, and the news surrounding the activism of today's athletes. For me going to the movies are an escape, and for many so is following what's going on in the sports world.

It was great to see a short list of some of Boseman''s films. Unfortunately I never actually seen 42  about MLB hall of famer Jackie Robinson or Get On Up about legendary musician James Brown - the King of Soul. However I have seen Black Panther, he was also in Draft Day, and I wrote about seeing him in Marshall on this blog about Thurgood Marshall a supreme court justice.

BTW, got to note the Howard University connection. One of Boseman's last tweets were to note Howard Alum U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California who is the Democrat nominee for Vice President. Boseman himself graduated from Howard and another Howard connection is Thurgood Marshall who attended the law school there. Yep Howard University has a supreme court justice in their hall of alumni.

YES @KamalaHarris! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾#WhenWeAllVote #Vote2020 pic.twitter.com/iOU3duBAcA

— Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) August 11, 2020

Anyway back to movies. The last movie featuring him that I saw last year was 21 Bridges a very interesting crime thriller where he plays an NYPD detective and one who I'd want on my case. And I didnt get to see him in the latest Spike Lee Joint  Da 5 Bloods.

However, one movie that did make him famous was Black Panther and while they may have to recast the role if there are future films in development. However his sudden demise bums me out and I really believed him as the King of Wakanda. RIP Mr. Boseman.

TMZ: YouTuber Jake Paul raided by FBI

I just found out about this tonight, and confused Jake with is brother Logan who's a very prominent YouTuber who himself isn't a stranger to controversy. More on that in a minute, however, whats' going on with Jake Paul?

BREAKING: Jake Paul's Home Being Searched by FBI, Warrant Issuedhttps://t.co/O374YESUYg

— TMZ (@TMZ) August 5, 2020

3:06 PM PT -- It appears almost certain Wednesday's raids in Calabasas and Vegas have to do with Jake's Scottsdale arrest. Armani Izadi -- a longtime collaborator and former friend of Jake's -- owns the Vegas home that was raided by the FBI. Izadi was also arrested with Jake in Scottsdale.

2:08 PM PT -- The FBI has just played its hand -- partially -- and revealed the raid is somehow in connection with Jake getting arrested in Scottsdale during a George Floyd protest. The FBI tells TMZ, "The FBI is investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May, 2020."

Jake was in the mall and arrested for trespass and was charged with a criminal misdemeanor, but the City Attorney has dropped the case -- it appears at the behest of the FBI -- and the more serious investigation has taken precedence.

I really don't follow Logan or Jake Paul's YouTube channels but it seems both of these young men have had some controversies as YouTubers. Indeed it was noted by TMZ that some of Jake Paul's stunts on YouTube had gotten him into trouble over the years.

As far as Logan Paul, Casey Neistat had a lengthy interview with him over two years ago which explains some aspects of his controversy. Logan paid a visit to a forest and recorded the remains of a person who committed suicide. I've never seen that video, however, Logan had to answer for that with Casey and its said that after that incident changed his strategy. [VIDEO]

I hope you enjoy yet another change of pace on this blog, although I'm sorry to have yet mentioned the name George Floyd once again on this blog. As you see from the above excerpt Jake Paul was arrested during a Floyd protest back in May.

Anyone in Chicago has Walter's WWE UK Title???

I found this article from Block Club Chi tonite as I was watching Monday Nite Raw. While I didn't first see this report here, Walter is the reigning defending WWE UK champion and he was in town for a wrestling show EVOLVE 142. EVOLVE is a promotion that has a relationship with WWE and many who are on the NXT roster have at one point wrestled for EVOLVE.

Anyway according to the article there have been a rash of vehicle break-ins in Chicago's Logan Park area. This is where Walter had been part of Evolve's event at the Logan Square Auditorium. Another wrestler's items were also stolen but I'm sure what authorities are looking for is Walter's UK championship in addition to his passport.

I've jokingly even tweeted asking if anyone in Chicago has Walter's belt and passport.

Who in Chicago stole @WalterAUT’s @WWE UK title and passport? #NXTUK#RAW https://t.co/W7uJ7w0nwA

— Levois J (@levois) December 10, 2019

Still I first heard about this from the YouTube channel Wrestlelamia on Sunday. It's among other stories and if you click video within the brackets it will take you directly to the story about Walter's missing title at about the 9 min. 55 sec. mark [VIDEO]

Here's a more direct story from the YouTube channel Heel By Nature published on Saturday [VIDEO]

Here's hoping they find the belt in time for next month's NXT UK Takeover Blackpool 2 when Walter as the reigning champion faces his challenger Joe Coffey.

#Joker first reaction

[VIDEO] From movie buff John Campea who might have been amongst the first people who saw Joker when it was released Thursday night. He wouldn't describe Joker as a typical comic book film.

I saw the movie this afternoon and while it's supposed to be a stand alone movie outside of the DC Extended Universe, I do like what they've done with Batman canon. I also know Batman canon has often been "retconned", regardless I won't give too much away but there are quite a few aspects of this film I liked. If you know Batman canon Joker really is an unstable character.

My favorite movie line if you will was something I tweeted once I left the movie.

“When I was a child I hated school. My mother says I should enjoy it because you’ll be working for a living.

Then I said no I won’t because I’ll be a comedian!

And now I’m a comedian and now no one is laughing!”

🤨#Joker

— Levois J (@levois) October 4, 2019

Saw #Creed2 and found this review

I just had to share this review with you all. You might have seen me retweet this on my twitter page. Here's in the tweet you can click on it to see the review in Cosmopolitan. It's interesting that they typical readership of Cosmo would even be interested in a boxing film.

So, #Creed2 is enjoyable and all, but I finally had to come to terms with how the franchise - in particular, this film - enables toxic masculinity at the detriment of its female characters. My latest for @cosmopolitan: https://t.co/JD7h0MA8bF

— Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker) November 20, 2018

I saw Creed 2 on Thanksgiving. And not to steal a schtick from the late critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel but I've give this film a thumbs up. The story of a man (Adonis Creed) who's about to fight the son (Viktor Drago) of a man (Ivan Drago) who took part in a fight that resulted in the death of that man's father (Apollo Creed). Basically we can call this sequal not only a sequel to Creed (2015) also for Rocky 4.

However the review for Cosmo that I just became aware of recently turns this film as an enabler for toxic masculinity.

It’s a boxing movie that we’re told has “heart,” a word coach Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) uses a lot in the film. "Listen to your heart," he keeps telling Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), who’s determined to defend his championship from Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), whose father Ivan (Dolph Lundgren) defeated Adonis’ dad in the match that killed him back in 1985’s Rocky IV. Adonis has some seriously unresolved issues about how his father’s death permanently devastated him and his mom Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad) and attempts to use this fight with Viktor to settle a score.

So right away, the two opponents—Adonis and Viktor—are established to have major daddy hang-ups. Viktor is also fighting to reclaim the title for the sake of his dad, whose own was stripped by Rocky himself in 1990’s Rocky V. This means everything that happens in Creed II is dependent on how these two male fighters choose to define their own machismo and protect their paternal legacies. Even Rocky talks about his estranged relationship with his son. These themes of masculinity are so oppressive that they relegate everything else that happens in the film—including the fact that Adonis and Bianca (Tessa Thompson) are expecting a baby—to the background.

I'm going to assume the "toxic masculinity" of the movie is bad for the women most affected here. Mother is concerned about her son and his wife is definitely concerned about her husband. Well the family drama is important, but then the other side of the movie is the drama that takes place for the boxers once they get into the ring.

I wonder if it's ever understood that a man feels as if he must handle his business. Sometimes a man might let something slide, however, in the case of boxing why should he stand down from a guy boasting that he won't lose. Perhaps Creed needed to get back into the ring and prove something. Somewhere out there and under different circumstances (and yes not exactly within the context of competitive sports) a man is facing similar situations.

What this writer might neglect is what I was able to deduce in this movie. Viktor Drago is with his father Ivan at a dinner to celebrate their boxing successes. It gets somewhat marred when an elegant blonda haired woman enter the dining room. As it turns out it's Viktor's mother and Ivan's ex wife. After the events of Rocky 4 (1985) Ivan's life unraveled and that woman played by Brigitte Nielsen in both films left Ivan and his son. So now I understand why Viktor seemed upset and let his father know what's up. And matter of fact Ivan tells him what happened Ivan lost!

I won't give too much away, but once the fight is over I began not to be surprised at what happens near the end of the movie. Especially with the background I gave you, although I've yet to really fully watch Rocky 4 which I concluded years ago was probably the beginning of the Rocky franchise jumping the shark.

All the same, this toxic masculinity, where is it here?

If you haven't seen it do so here's a trailer to get you excited. [VIDEO]

Evolution of internet platforms

I've been part of the internet for many years. When I first logged on most of the homes that were online connected through a dial-up connection on a telephone landline. The designs of most websites were pretty basic as opposed to now (to understand what I'm saying look up Greyhound.com and go back as far as you can over at archive.org). What a vastly different place it is today.

You don't really hear about webpages anymore. Basically a website is a collection of webpages though virtually every website has a webpage. Even this blog could be seen as a series of webpages and it gets updated semi-frequently which constantly expands like a book.

I always imagined having a website even though ISP's once commonly offered free webspace to customers it's something that has become obsolete these days. As stated before there are so many free tools these days that allow anyone an online platform. In the late 1990s through early 2000s you had to create that platform. There was no social media, and the service I currently use Blogger didn't exist until at least 1998.

When I first created a website it was through Geocities - which had been owned by Yahoo!. Of course I never realized that if you want people to visit you had to have a draw to it. I bought a photo scanner to post some pics and used the rudimentary photo editing software. I also shared some of my favorite Star Trek pics that I found online at the time. And this was during the time I was at Morehouse College. Of course it wasn't until 2005 that I started blogging which makes updating a website far easier.

And yet the internet evolved some more with Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram. Now most people access the internet on their smartphones. I myself now own an iPhone which is a multifaceted tool that allows me to make phone calls, text, email, shoot photos, shoot video, etc. And with an iPhone and these other smartphones you can also update social media, and upload photos & video on the go!

Now it causes me to wonder where I could've taken this internet thing if I had discovered Blogger in the late 90s to early 2000s. The tech available at the time that I just simply had no idea about beyond what I had already learned about back in the day. Though thankfully it doesn't take long to find out about what's available these days online. Not only that there is an app on a mobile device also!

Quentin Tarantino sets up another film series?

This intrigues me. Kind of like what they're doing with Star Wars with a Han Solo movie being released next month. It seems the Star Wars universe isn't just concerned with the two trilogies that were released in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s.

There are plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Wars universe and so will there be plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Trek universe. So whatever Tarantino is coming up with, I'm interested! Read this post from TrekMovie

ICYMI: Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek Project Could Set Up Separate Movie Series #QuentinTarantino https://t.co/Q1S8fhHPpu

— TrekMovie.com (@TrekMovie) April 29, 2018

Also check out this satirical version of a potention Tarantino Trek movie. Pretty funny but for now we can only imagine how an actual movie trailer is going to look like. [VIDEO]

I know this is an obscure reference, but I really miss Cinescape magazine. It got be exciting for a lot of coming movie projects and news of them!

Previously: Tarantino "Trek"

Jeff Jarrett in the WWE Hall of Fame????

Actually seeing this tweet on Monday it's actually going to happen the weekend of Wrestlemania

BREAKING: As first reported by @NBCSports, @RealJeffJarrett will be inducted into the #WWEHOF Class of 2018! https://t.co/30BwDTVo4J

— WWE (@WWE) February 19, 2018

In the mid to late 1990s Jeff Jarrett had two stints in the then World Wrestling Federation and also had stints in World Championship Wrestling. WCW was bought in 2001 by one Vince McMahon and decided to engage in this form of good TV [VIDEO]

For years I've heard there was bad blood from when Jeff Jarrett ended his second stint with WWF as he was said to have held up the WWF Intercontinental title for more money. Jarrett's contract had just ran out and WWF officials failed to get the title off of him. So Jarrett had one more PPV and was pinned by Chyna allowing her to become the first woman IC champ.

All the same Jarrett went on to main event WCW during the waning days of that company. Then created the closest competitor McMahon's WWE has since it bought WCW, it's an organization now called Impact Wrestling. Though when Jarrett started the organization with his father it was known as Total Nonstop Action and in the early days was affiliated with a longtime organization known as the National Wrestling Alliance.

Of course things change and ultimately Jarrett is no longer affiliated with Impact then he started Global Force Wrestling which seemed to become part of Impact - though it appears that didn't happen ultimately. And now all the sudden something happened where Jarrett becomes a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Most fans including myself never saw this happening. Perhaps even Jarrett himself [VIDEO]

Many have theorized that gradually McMahon is relingquishing control of WWE to the next generation i.e. Shane McMahon & Stephanie McMahon -Vince's progeny. Also Stephanie is the wife of WWE legend Triple H who basically created a program called NXT to train the next generation of WWE superstars. And now another sign of that shift Jarrett is going to be in hall of fame.

You know the signal this sends. It means perhaps there are more plans for Jarrett. Maybe he won't be on the road full-time, but usually if you have this distinction this means you're part of the fold again. Perhaps appearances on WWE programming, perhaps a DVD set, perhaps a few more matches because it's possible Jarrett can still wrestle and is ready to go today! I suppose we'll have to see as of now, the main thing is when Wrestlemania weekend comes, he's going to get his ring!

The Wrigley Mansion

The family known for the chewing gum and the namesake of the Chicago Cubs home Wrigley Field - and the family formerly owned the north side MLB franchise until the early 80s also has a namesake home which has recently been sold. It's strange to me to say that this mansion on the north side  - specifically 2466 North Lakeview Avenue - was a foreclosure. And looking at the selling price $4.65 million it's still very much out of my reach.

Regardless I'll say when I'm finally ready to build my own house I have found the model. Perhaps scale it down and hopefully resembling a style of mid-century architecture. Just think perhaps as close to a Pill Hill style home as one could get built in the 21st century.

Here's another article by Curbed Chicago

Lincoln Park’s famous—and foreclosed—Wrigley Mansion sells for $4.65M https://t.co/MFU8lCudVK pic.twitter.com/hNjKG7PGLP

— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) January 29, 2018

A man can dream can he?

Saw #ThePost on Friday

[VIDEO] It allowed me to come to some conclusions especially with the term "fake news" flying around since Trump ran for President in 2016 and during the administration of President Trump currently. It depicts a battle - mainly legal battle - between the press and the government.

Basically some documents were smuggled from the Pentagon analyzing the war in Vietnam and those papers which have been publicly released shows a history of deception by the government as far as their Vietnam policy. The papers apparently start well before America became involved with the Vietnam War and it's escalation. There was a court case NY Times vs. U.S. which allowed the Times and the Washington Post to publish government documents without an reprisal by the government. In other words, the gov't can't censor you because they don't like the fact that you published some documents they didn't want you to see!

Allow me to share the big picture of the movie. We have a free press in this country, and resultantly free speech. With that said and I tweeted this out during the course of the movie - not during the movie of course.

#ThePost it’s fine with me if @realDonaldTrump takes on #FakeNews and it’s also fine w/ me if the press takes on the President #fb

— Levois J (@levois) January 5, 2018

There is no issue with me if President Trump pushed back against the press - or least the press he refers to as Fake News. Among conservatives I've seen that they believe the press has a bias against them. They believe the press or mainstream media trends liberal and in their coverage of Republicans or conservatives is colored with a liberal slant. Thus perhaps for many on the right - or perhaps "alt-right" - it's refreshing that the President isn't going along with that and is effectively punching back.

Our nation is supposed to have checks and balances between the President, Congress and judiciary. Who checks the press? We do need a strong press to check the government and it's three branches. A strong press is worthless if it's unwilling to check the government. As addressed in the movie, there were occasions - and perhaps they still ocurr - that newspaper publishers & editors or producers, reporters, journalists, etc. can be chummy with politicians on occasion. Thus it's possible to think that perhaps the press would cover for the politicians that they are chummy with when things are found out about them.

With that said when Trump takes on CNN or MSNBC or the NY Times it's entirely OK with me if her refers to those outlets as "fake news". We should consume news or information, we need not think that everything they say doesn't have a bias. We need not believe they don't have an agenda and perhaps it doesn't always benefit the people who consume the news & information they publish.

So it's OK with me if Trump calls the mainstream media "fake news". It's also OK with me if the media pushes back against Trump. What we're seeing is healthy. Who says the politicians shouldn't challenge the press - of course without suppressing them legally? Also who says the press shouldn't challenge the politicians?

BTW, if you check hashtag #ThePost on twitter you may see mostly negative views of The Post. Many have opted not to even watch the movie thanks to the liberal politics of Tom Hanks and Merryl Streep. Indeed another tweet I saw connected this movie with the Harvey Weinstein scandal. And I've learned that the film has only earned a half-million dollars when it was released New Year's weekend. Although when I saw the movie it was almost a full-house in my theater.

It's still a great movie and yes I can separate the politics or even complicity in some social context i.e. Weinstein from the work of art. Then again that's the beauty of America, we have the right to support or not support whatever we want for whatever reasons we have. Besides, I gave that dreadful Al Gore global warming sequel a chance even though I'm not likely to ever want to see it again!

My review of #TheCircle

[VIDEO] Lately when I go to the movies most of them are just forgettable entertainment. You go in and be entertained, however, later you simply forget about it. There's nothing really groundbreaking about the movie itself or laugh, feel the adrenaline, etc. and then you leave.

That wasn't the case with The Circle. Now with that said I've seen the reception on its Wiki page and saw that so far there aren't many that like the movie so far. I never pay attention to Rotten Tomatoes and see that this film isn't rated highly.

Why does The Circle touch a nerve with me? It shows the scary effects of social media. Our hero Mae starts to work at this tech company which appears to be a cross between Apple and fb. It offers these small cameras that can be placed anywhere and unseen to the eye. And then there appears to be a social network attached to it.

Mae herself becomes a major show on this social network and likely billions log on to see how she's doing. Unfortunately some sad consequences come of it. Her friend Mercer comes to an unfortunate end as the latest online sensation. It seems the friend - Annie -who brought her to that company doesn't want anything to do with her although they seem to have an uneasy relationship as Mae's star begins to rise.

Mercer's strikes an unfortunate nerve. As Mae begins broadcast her life for her company her fans find out about Mercer's past and refer to him as a deer killer although he defends himself by saying he doesn't kill deer. It becomes a point where he as Mae's friend had to cut ties with her because of her new celebrity.

Unfortunately, later the crowd clamors for Mae to find Mercer - after she herself used the Circle to find a wanted fugitive. They do so and of course a comment about him being a deer killer. After keeping a low-profile and he flees. Without giving away much this is the point in the movie where I take off my ballcap. I was truly disgusted with the movie at that point.

To start we see a form of online shaming in this film. Let's say you find one piece of information about someone - whether that person posted themselves or not - and then it goes viral. Then it literally becomes a form of bullying and outright nastiness. Perhaps it's truthful or perhaps not, however, either way someone believes it and spreads it and for a moment it's like wildflower. Scary thing is, it might be a while before you find out about it.

I like how Mae turned the tables on her bosses at the Circle - Eamon & Tom - who egged on the many activities that led to what happened with Mercer. She got connected with one of the founders of the circle - he has a low profile because we doesn't like what's going on at this company - who helped her turn the tables. And we go back to one thing that they never wanted to give up for themselves - privacy.

They didn't truly want to be transparent, but everyone else should be. Mae's life was saved because she took a kayak got thrown about in high waves and almost drowned. Perhaps there is no right to privacy in a public place but how transparent does one need to be in the world. Beside we all should be embarrassed by something.

It lets me know, now that we live in a world with cell phone video cameras and we can broadcast those images live on Periscope, fb, ig, etc. we have to be more careful. Perhaps we might behave better if we're being watched - and yes that's not always true. At the same time at what point have we gone too far with this activity?

BTW, I never realized that this film was based on a book and see a vastly different story here. I got to find that book now and give it a read. Perhaps it'll tell me more about the story and the issues in real life that are shown.

Is blogging dead?

I've been beginning to wonder. Years ago people in the mainstream media were talking about blogs, now it's about YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram or even Facebook.

To be sure as much as I've taken to writing 140 characters, nothing will beat good writing. You can't do that in 140 and at that it has to be very interesting.

No one pays attention to a YouTube channel that doesn't have interesting content. I began to realize that there is a science to being a viral YouTube sensation. It's either intentional or unintentional and for the most part something viral just happens can't script it nor plan it.

Although I just recently started a FB account to attach to this blog, there's a lot of FB status I wouldn't want to share and hadn't for a long time. It's also cool to share photo albums and such from FB. But who would want to read a long status.

Remember TL;DR? LOL

Anyway, perhaps it's good that blogging has had it's heyday. This just means that the ones with something to say and hopefully the truly good writers will get the attention it deserves. Everyone else can flood FB, Twitter, Instagram and these other sites that are out there.

Besides all these other social media sites can be utilized effectively especially if you do utilize a blog.

Sometimes I miss things like this on Twitter

So our new Governor hasn't been in office for almost two weeks and he's showing us his road trip to Springfield. Of course he made some stops along the way especially seeing some state troopers and a quick stop for his dogs and some Micky D's. And you would think he's driving in a fancy luxury car right?

Well this tweet is from one of the governor's staffers.

This is happening... #rollingtrashcan pic.twitter.com/mYmBbH04mm
— LTrover (@LTrover) January 24, 2015

The last time I saw that vehicle it took him to the south side to make a deposit at a neighborhood credit union. So if it got to the south side safe and sound as a candidate for Governor, it could get him to Springfield our state capitol.

At least we can say this for Gov. Rauner, at least he forgo a trip on a state aircraft as one of his predecessors Rod Blagojevich had. And for good measure he came home to the executive mansion in Sprinfield as well.

Stella pumpkin and I made to the mansion! What's a fun ride. Glad to be home pic.twitter.com/M9oXKKYvws
— Bruce Rauner (@GovRauner) January 24, 2015

Here's hoping this is what we can look forward to the next four years. A traveling Governor showing us around the great state we call Chicago...I mean Illinois.

BTW, hopefully I can catch this stuff on Twitter when I see it. :P

Epiphany on social networking sites

facebook.com

I've reached something of an epiphany recently. Actually when you think about it, it seems there are epiphanies about anything with me. In any event, I've come to a conclusion about social networking.

Believe it or not, I've been using Facebook since it was brand new. So brand new in fact that when a user registered they must have a college-issued e-mail address. It wasn't as wide open as it is now.

Never would I have ever imagined that there would be other ways of distracting ourselves online - such as Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat - during the course of a given day. In fact now these sites have evolved beyond the PC which was the only was to access sites such as FB years ago. Now we can access these sites via cell phones or a tablet device.

So getting in touch with our friends and more random people via these various sites are easier than ever because now we can use cell phones and tablet devices. You don't have to wait until you get to a PC to utilize these sites.

Then it hits me, it's cool to be able to use these various platforms to communicate with a number of people. We could reconnect with childhood friends, classmates, family, or even make new friends. It's as useful as the many uses you can make of it however you choose.

At the same time there is a dark side to using such sites. Like any tool, if you use it the right way it will prove to be beneficial. At the same time if you use it the wrong way, then it probably will cause more harm than good. You can use such a site to project yourself as you are until you find someone who decides to mess with your reputation using online sources. And unfortunately it seems a lot of people put a lot of their lives online.

Then here comes my epiphany....there's got to be better ways to pass that time than on a PC or a mobile device. This should be time connecting with our friends and family offline and perhaps taking them to a movie or to a restaurant. That is being truly social with them in the real world.

While, I'm a long way from ever removing myself from these various sites perhaps it's time we consider how important our time is with the people we do care about. And anything else that happens online whether wanted or unwanted is at some point merely noise.

Stupidity on Twitter...

Actress Tamera Mowry says one thing about the debate on her Twitter account. She states that she hated that the candidates over talk each other during the course of the debate. She made no apparent mention of who she supports in this election.

Then after that comment she gets jumped on as a Romney supporter. Not long after that she gets jumped on for her interracial marriage to a FOX News reporter. He jumps into the fray himself.

According to those engaged in the flame war Mowry is denying her black half. The FOX News reporter is funny looking and not hot enough to cross over to the dark side. Marrying a black woman is the perfect cover up.

WOW!!!! I hate talk like that from anyone. And I had little idea about Mowry's marriage and sorry she does go by Tamera Mowry Housley now.

Anyway who she marries is only her business and should have little to do with whether or not she denies her heritage. There are quite a few inter-ethnic marriages out there and well I wonder if in these relationships does either spouse deny their backgrounds. Let's hope now.

Also what does that have to do with their political stances. Mowry said very little about her politics just made a statement about the interruptions or overtalk of the candidates during last night's debate. It was innocent but she gets attacked because her white husband just so happens to work at FOX News.

Well they called out for what they are racist. Denigrate the both of them for their respective races was wrong and absolutely shameful! And at that attempt to intertwine that with politics.

For their parts I could just as easily call them Obama supporters. It doesn't matter to me if they are Obama supporters but this sheer vitriol may make his campaign look worse. Besides, I'm there are those who believe just because you're black you should support Obama. That's just dumb to me!

Hat-tip Instapundit!