I Started Playing Dragon's Age video game

This was an email I wrote Susan talking about me playing the video game Dragon's Age.  Warning this is a spoiler!

I started playing Dragon's Age tonight and it took me one hour and 58 minutes to get started, plus a hour and a half fighting Playstation Network(which sucks balls).  OMG this game is epic in depth.  I created a poor dwarf (which his height blows me).  The local crime boss has my sister and me under wraps.  I'm his flunky and he's pimping my sister.  he is forcing my sister to whore herself to give a nobleman a child.  Only the noble's children are able to fight in the war with evil which we are losing.  the underground people live in this a strict caste system. you are what your parent and grandfathers were.  we are poor and had no caste, so that's I am a criminal who works for the crime boss.  While walking the streets people are so nasty to me, and talk down to me.  My mom in the game is a drunk bitch and she is so mean and negative, I can't fuck with her but I guess that comes living as an outcast.  However my sister is so nice and dwarf pretty (think porn star Pinky lol).

I want to save her from being a noble whore.  There a lot of options available, I can be nice, a complete dick, or a lame yes man.  My sister confesses she met a nobleman but didn't want to tell the crime boss. in talking with my sister I find out there is only two ways to raise my family from being outcasts.  one, she has child with a nobleman and he adds our family to his or, two, I do the impossible and go above ground save the race and comeback a legend like only one other person in dwarf history.

Well the boss sends me on mission to see if a guy is stealing, I tried being nice and it didn't work then I threaten to kill him and plant evidence and he fessed up.  He had a side job sale some expensive rock up to above ground humans.  He tried to make a deal with me to not kill him for stealing from the boss, he give us a cut.  I half agree and this shocks the dude the boss sent with me to do the job, I tell him we can split the money, he becomes cool with it. Then I think about it and if the boss finds out that A. we kept the money he will kill us and B. if don't kill this guy he will kill us.  So I decide to kill the guy who was stealing, we take the stolen goods back to the boss.  But I only gave the boss half and pocketed the other half.  There is so many options in this game.

The next job is to rig this local fight put on for an above ground legendary battle called Grey Wardens.  They are looking for a new member and the winner of the fight tournament gets a shot.  Boss man placed a ton of money on this underdog fighter to win.  He task me and my boy to go drug the other fighter so dude can win.  We get there I met the human guy from the Grey Wardens and start acting like a 8 yr old meeting Kobe Bryant.  Dude was real nice to me and didn't treat me like the scum of the other like the dwarfs do.  I lose my wording and he walks away.

We find the bum we are suppose to help win and he is passed out drunk before the fight.  So to save everyone's ass I dress up in the dude's armor and cover my face to pretend I am him.  I have the option to have my boy go drug the guy I am fighting but I decline, say I want to prove myself to the Grey Wardens...even though I can never show my true self because as a no-caste I'm not suppose be in the building and much less fight in a noble event. So I fight and win. and then wins some more all in mask.  then right before the championship is awarded this drunk fool comes out talk about I got his armor in the middle of the arena.  Why didn't my boy hold him back I don't know.  The Dwarf king gets upset and asks me to remove my mask, I refuse at first then the guards come and I do to the horror to everyone but the Grey Warden.  I get jumped by guards and locked up.  The Bossman pulls some strings to get me transfered from the jail to locked up in his hideout just so he can kill me himself instead of the guards who want to kill me for breaking the caste system.  Bossman wants me and my boy dead because we can finger him for rigging the fight.

There is a dumb guard watching us, I trick him into coming close and pick pocket him for the key.  my criminal background pays off.  I break me and homie out and fight our way to the bossman in his hideout.  I kill the boss, who was hard for me because I just started the game and still learning how to play and was only level one.  Soon as we step outside, the king and guards are waiting for us to lock us up for escaping.  I tell them I kill the crime boss, but it still didn't matter to the king because I broke the caste system laws.  The Grey Warden is impressed with my skill and will and offers me a job and protection from the king.  It's my only option verse death.  If I leave the Grey Warden side the guards will jump me.  I am forced to leave home.  My sister is there after the Grey Warden found her.  I ask if she will be ok and she said she found a nobleman to take of her.  I ask if she is sure, I still don't like the baby machine idea.  She says she will be proud to have a child that will raise the family and one day go fight for the race.  So I leave my family and people behind to join the Grey Wardens in the war with evil.  Ok only 98 more hours left.

Video Games are the Novels of the Non-Reader

For Christmas I got a PS3! Yay, I feel like a kid again.  As a long time Xbox user and avid gamer I don’t think I missed much in terms of gaming, because I try to keep up.  Anyway, my Xbox is still my primary gaming machine.  I but I don’t like the idea of my PS3 as only a Blu-Ray player, so I went looking for a game to play on it.  The keys I was looking for in games for my PS3 was:

1. Single Player.  Xbox reigns supreme in multiplayer, and that’s where all my friends are to play with.  Also I have the Playstation in the bedroom so I can lay in bed and play until I get sleepy.
2. Have an engaging story, part of the experience is I want to be entertained and not need to watch Netflix or Blu-rays.

I remember a friend saying the scariest game he ever played was Dead Space.  So I went to look it up.  It was survival horror game and available for both the PS3 and the Xbox.  I looked at the reviews(8.7 out of 10 with a good story).  They rated the graphics, scary mood lighting, and sound as really good.  That would be perfect for my bedroom set up too, finally get to make good usage of the surround sound set up I was pressed to put in the bedroom.  It doesn’t stop there, it was also up for a few yearly awards when first released and on many blog sites listed as one of the scariest games of all time. However they did say the Xbox version was slightly better( a trend I am noticing).  I did notice the price($20 verses $60) was greatly marked down for a PS3 game and they are in production of a sequel; sounded like a perfect game to start my PS3 gaming on.

Trailer:

I turned out the lights and cranked the surround sound up.  The game was engaging and visually stunning.  It took about 2 days and over 8 hours to finish the game.  I one thing I did not like about the game and I blame myself for reading too many reviews, is that I noticed exactly what the lady that wrote the only negative review about it had complained about it.  And it started to bother me too.  I don’t think I would of notice if I had not read that review either.  Fail on my part, for breaking my own guidelines of not looking too much at reviews.  But I took that negativity and used it as a reason to hurry up and beat the game so it would stop and I would be done with the game.

Normally when playing my games I don’t pay too much attention to story unless I know it or have a strong interest in it, like Star Wars games.  Ask me what the Gears of War or Halo stories were about, I couldn’t tell you even after completing all the games.  But this time I purposely tried to pay attention and listen and watch.  And it pays off so much!  I was amazed at how much I like the entire experience after they wrapped up the entire game at the end.  I thought back to scenes and info they presented earlier and it all made sense!  Shit the game play was average, the story just ok but the experience was amazing.  It was how everything came together, the mood (visuals and sounds) and the deep story (not a great story, but depth plus they had plot twist too like any good story with additional info you don’t think is important until the end).

So I was happy and entertained, because it’s was good game and I actually finished a game and knew what happened in it.

A couple of days later while surfing Netflix I stubble on an movie called Dead Space: Downfall.  From the description, it was a feature length prequel to the video game! And guess what, it was streaming too. FTW!!!  With a 3.4 stars best guess rating for me, 3.3 stars viewer rating (all out of 5), and having NOW beaten the game, I thought I should watch it.  It wasn’t bad at all, it was good even.  The best part was that: I knew what was going on into the movie, so there wasn’t any figuring out, just all story to entertain me. 

Trailer:



The entirety of this was an epic experience stemming from an average $20 video game.

This got me thinking.  The last novel I read was couple months ago it was long and I got kind of bored and didn’t think to pick up back up.  That happens with games too.  This said novel was the 5 in a series, I like the earlier books (great value for $8 packs of paper) and keep reading to see where it was going.  Each book took hours to read, was long, and could be great if paying attention and had depth.  This is very similar in concept to the experiences I have playing some video games.  A common question when looking at a story based game is “Around how many hours is it?”  Like looking at the number of pages or words in a novel.  Novels don’t have straight lines of stories, neither do video games.  They are the same.  Except on makes you feel like you are guiding the story, but let’s be honest, you aren’t, the writers/programmers designed it that way. So I say, video games are the novels to the non-reader that like to do instead of watch.  The difference is interaction.  Both are long winding stories, but some people don’t mind reading for hours on end while others prefer pushing buttons and other stimulations to get their story.

*sorry, wrote this at work and it’s too long for me to read over and fix grammar, spelling, and shit. If you follow me, you know good grammar is not a priority when it comes to get my message out.

Who Are You?

When you hear the name “Michael Jackson” what comes to mind?  The entertainer, right?  Well maybe for most people except people that may know another Michael Jackson that’s fresh on their minds.  Michael Jackson is easily one of the most common names in America, there are hundred of thousands of them.  But this one guy stands out in most of our minds.

Often people don’t understand why  I become bothered when people compare me to other people.  “You look like…” “You act like…”  Well hopefully after this entry you will understand and also share the feeling.

When you hear the name William Washington or Will Wash, what person comes to mind?  Hopefully me.  I pride myself in that.  My own little impact to those around me.

But what a name really?  Sure your last name establishes your linage and placement in the world, kind of.  But your given name is just a name you was given by someone.  If you were the last person on earth, The Omega Man, would you care about having a name?  No.  There is now the there to need it or use it.  Because you don’t refer to yourself in third person, unless you are crazy.  This feral kid that are raised by wolves don’t give themselves names, they don’t need a name.  You are you, that why in language we have I’s and me’s.  To refer to ourselves.  Your name is simply for being able to communicate the difference between human 1 and human 2 without having to see, touch, or point.  Identification.  Any profound meaning? No, not yet.  Remember your name is not even for you because you don’t need to identify yourself from someone else.  Unless you are mentally crazy.

On the surface name don’t really have importance other than having one, and that is kind of correct.  But names can be made to have importance.  As a baby your parents gave you a name to identify you.  You don’t know about liking it or not or if it has some meaning.  Mayber is has meaning to the ones that gave it to you but it’s actually meaning is simple you, the human being because that what names are for, identification.  As you grown and as it is used you claim ownership of that name.  When someone ask you, you say your name or nickname or whatever you are used to people being able to identify you as.  That’s why people seem to be ok with strange or silly names, not because they like them or got to pick their own name but because it’s the way they are identified and have acknowledged and claimed ownership.  After 18 you have the option to start over being associating yourself with another name for people to know for other people.  Also there stages in life where you may add to your name for better identification, like taking your husbands name or taking a title.  Becoming identified as Mrs Somebody or Dr Somebody in addition your given name.  Just more ways of isolating the one in a few billion of people.  But as always doesn’t matter what your name actual name is because it’s for other people to call you.

Names don’t importance attached to them until people start associating it to something.  Like Rockefeller is to money because of the people that have that name done things that a noteworthy and worth remembering in regards to money.  Same thing with each of our names.  There are thousands of other William Washingtons in the US alone, it’s a common name.  Now if you see the name William Washington how do you know which one someone is talking about?  You don’t until more info is given but in the mean time one of them that you know will come to mind and the one that have left the biggest impression on your life will be the one.

So I try hard to leave an impression or mark on the world, for at the very least for identification purposes.  Not that I have to become famous or anything but not hiding my identity and making impact those around me so that know who I am.  Doesn’t matter if it’s my full name or nickname what matters is you can clearly identify the human being born March 15, 1979 in Washington DC.

To make an impact on those around you it really doesn’t matter either on how you do it but that you doing it.  You could be like Hitler or Gracy or on the other side Martin Luther- haha or Martin Luther King (which one was you thinking of?).  But it’s your own task to make your given name mean you as that particular human being and the emotion and feelings attached to it.

Look at Rick Ross.  Which one are you thinking of?  The rapper or drug dealer?  This is case where a person changed his name.  Rick Ross was a drug dealer that had street fame, people knew of him and when someone said the name, they knew who they talking about.  Then there was a man who wanted to be famous and took the stage name Rick Ross.  Now the name Rick Ross was familiar to many by now because of the works of the drug dealer so that help him be recognized as the other Rick Ross.  So while one guy is in jail the other is still out spreading his influence to the point where if you say the name Rick Ross you think of the entertainer instead of the original drug dealer.  At first the name Rick Ross made people think of drugs and now Rick Ross make people think of rap music.  The name didn’t change but the people and the thoughts behind it did.

Each of us have a name and it’s our job to make it stand out, mean something, or associate it with us.  Whether you was given the name or made it up it’s still up to the person that give the name value and human association in the minds of others because that’s what names are all about association in other people’s minds, not our own.  Of course, unless you are crazy and need to associate yourself with a name to refer to yourself to.

Now when you tell me I remind you for someone else that means I have not made a big enough impact in your mind.  Because you need to associate me as variation of someone else.  That’s a problem with me because when you are faced with two humans and that other guy was the primary thought.  When people first meet me I understand, don’t like it but understand.  Because we all do that to help us relate and remember things to by associations.  Over time, you will not need to do an association to identify me because I would have made a big enough impact in you mind separate from that association…hopefully.

Shout out to my dad for giving me his name, I hope I can improve it and make him proud for giving it to me.  Feel free to comment on this one.  What do you want out of your name?  Do you think it’s your job to give meaning to your name?

Wale – Attention Deficit

Today Wale release his long awaited album.  I happy to say I am proud to be a fan of the DC Area native.  After many critically acclaimed mixtapes is easy to be skeptical of a debut studio album, but he does not disappoint.  I don’t like to tell people what to like, I say make your own decision, but if you do like him I highly recommend supporting the new artist and buying his album.  I got it off Amazon.com for only $9.50 which is nothing compared to my $16 lunches.

My Favorite Track: World Tour - Wale feat. Jasmine Sullivan

Reality Is Holding You Back, Huh???

My life is filled with lots of interesting people all with a wide range of personalities.  As always, you are who you are and there is nothing wrong with that.  Really, it's the world job to figure you out, because you can't bitch about snakes always biting you when you refuse to learn how to be around snakes.  But I'm not talking about snakes or people like snakes, I swear I cover that before.

I like people that think differently than me, don't always get along but it's never dull. One of my favorites is the people that live in alternate realities.  It ranges from delusional to having circus mirror.  For example, delusional - You know the guy you have know your whole life, grew up and went to school together.  The whole works.  Every time you talk to him he speak of something in the past that never happened, usually delusions of grandeur.  You'll say you ran in to someone like the prom queen from high school and randomly add to the convo that he used to date her. Of course you are like WTF?!  Because you know that she wouldn't of given him the time of day back then, you were his friend.  I would give you a real life example of a fingering story but it would blow up spots, and I still love my friends.

But not all people are that crazy.  The common trait is I think they might actually believe some of the stuff happen or might of happened.  You know how if you think about it so much or strongly it maybe true or become part of your memory.  Like how they say to beat a lie detector test, is to actually believe your lie.

My mother does this one to me.  I go down to the basement to do something and come back up and she is in the kitchen.  As I enter the kitchen, she asks me did I bring up the pot?  Of course I go huh? What pot?  She says I asked you to bring up the pot I needed.  Where is it?  Then it's a back in forth me saying no you didn't ask me to.  It's not that I didn't hear her because it happens at other times too and been happening for all my life.  Her minds is like mind, but faster I think.  She is thinking about about so much stuff going on and what to do next, in her head she did ask me to bring up the pot but it was just not vocalized before going on to the next thought.

Similar is the person that tells stories like that.  They interject there thoughts in to the story like it happen as a matter of fact.  You will never hear them say "And I thought" or "In my head I was like."  The more tramatic the better they sound and the more different it is from the actual events of the story.  Their retelling is like a blockbuster movie for an 8 page picture book.  For example, they went to the store and noticed someone staring at them, they look away and then they left, that's it no words exchanged event over.  But in their retelling, They went to the store and this guy was eyeballing them like he wanted to fight, gave them and mean mug and was like (notice the "was like"), "What are you looking at?!"  They say how they was about to get all up in his business and buss some heads. "You better get out of here before someone gets hurt!" And they left.   You are like WOW, that's crazy.  And then you ask, "Wow, you said that?!"  But Rule #1 don't ask these people more questions because it will force them to lie or *palmface* for making it up. "Nah, but I was going to if I had more time." :-/

Finally, there is the fact maker-uppers.  Normally very smart people and in charge of stuff, or just plain Republican.  They are not your normal liars because they don't do it because they have to, they do it feel included or to prove a point.  These are the people that make up statistic, definitions, and reviews.  I ask about a new movie and they will tell you all about it the meaning behind it.  Then you ask have you seen it, no only the trailer. "In my head," I'm like wow your mind is amazing - AND out of control.  Don't talk politic with these people either they love to pull stats out of there ass.  Did you know only 2 three people in the Turtletown, Oregon don't have healthcare?  Or the average human colon holds 7lbs of waste.  And I'm think, no you are full of shit.  Anyway the more obscure the stat the better.

Talk Of The Devil, And He Is Bound To Appear

When it comes to horror movies, the ones I like best are the ones centered around religious beliefs.  But why do movies dealing with the Devil and demons scare us more than ghosts, serial killers, or pale Japanese girls?

Ok, it is something like 84% of the population of the world believes in some type of religion, billions of people.  And as far back as human record keeping, there has been the existence of religion.  Spiritual belief goes hand in hand with human existence.  Have you notice that even children not old enough to comprehend seem to play/speak with imaginary things and friends? And babies stare at things we can’t comprehend?  But either way… Out of the 84% the spiritual believers, 66% of them all have the same God and share the same back-story (children of Abraham from the book of Genesis).  Say, if 84% of the world thinks the world’s climate is changing for the worst, and if 66% of them say it’s because of global warming it would be hard to argue that all those people are wrong.  To be able to argue the world is not changing, you would need to be smarter than the experts of those billions of people and the odds of that are like winning the lottery.  Which is why people shouldn’t argue religion.

Ok, now in the Islam, Judaism, and Christianity there is this one character that appears.  First in the exact same location, the Garden of Eden.  This character with many names, Shaytan in the Qur’an, simply the Adversary (Ha-satan) in the Hebrew Bible, and too many to list in the Christian Bible.  He tempts the first people and sets up the stage for their purpose in later accounts.  Now this character also has different purposes depending on who’s telling the story.  But exists never the less.  So he is not exactly our modern concept of the “devil”.  These books and histories are not the only places where this character or concept of spiritual supernatural personification of evil is located.  Hinduism also has gods that counter balance for example, Rahu and the satan-like god Kroni.  Even Buddhism have Mara, who tempted Buddha. Ancient Egypt had Osiris.

No matter what you believe, nobody is attracted to negativity and are careful of things that hinder success and prosperity.  Could it be movies and stories with supernatural evil is scarier than the zombie, ghost, and serial killer is because the odds of that type of encounter seem higher?  To me, the fear of a supernatural being that are god-like in influencing our well-being is scary because it’s like having a stalker that you or the police can not do anything about.  You know the stalker watching, following, and waiting and there is nothing you can do about it, you can’t run or kill it.  It’s the nervousness of being weaker and knowing something bad can happen.  In your personal life what do you find scariest and how does that influence what you find scary in movies?  I know so many people that don’t do evil things at all in their movie watching.

 

Side note: on the topic of religions, if you like researching you will notice many common concepts and similar stories found in many of the world religions, even religions that are worlds apart.  Noah and the world flooding is a big one that is shared by non related religions and science.

Death Smiles at Us All

*Disclaimer* I AM NOT SUICIDAL!!

No secret I’m not afraid of dying and I have always said I wanted to die young.  Shit, through my life I have never ever thought of what my future would be like when I’m older.  That’s just me, I guess.  Not only the Christian in me has me comfortable with dying but just the place my mind is at, I’m ok with what I’m done so far.  I’m not like Pac or BIG predicting my death or anything like that.  But I have thought about what I wanted when I die.

1. If I have not been roasted by the time I die, I give permission to do a comedy roast…as long as it’s in good spirit.  Don’t go bring up some pinned up hatred you was too scared to say when I was alive.  Nothing mean spirited.  You all know I loved to laugh when I was alive and had a healthy sense of humor.
2. If a ceremony is had, make it one to remember.  I’m used to having people tell me of the good times they remember, now give them one more.
3. Finally and most importantly, I want these songs played.  They are the final tracks to the soundtrack to my life.
   
   Cosmic Slop by Funkadelic
   
   I see myself and others close to me in it.  But not literally!  The song is about an impoverished mother with five children who has resorted to prostitution in order to support her family. Although she tries to shield her children from the knowledge that they are poor and she is a prostitute, every night the narrator hears his mother beg God for forgiveness and understanding for doing what she has to do for the sake of her children. As I have said so many times…the world we live in is not in black and white. Also asking for forgiveness for trying to do the right things is a major theme in my life.
   
   Maggot Brain by Funkadelic
   
   This instrumental tugs at your emotions and soul.  And the history of it pulls even more.
   
   
   

   According to legend, George Clinton, under the influence of LSD, told Eddie Hazel to play the first half of the song like his mother had just died and to play the second half as if he had found out she was alive; other variants of the story suggest that he was simply told to play as if he had found his mother dead. The result was the 10-minute guitar solo for which Hazel is most fondly remembered by many music critics and fans. Though several other musicians began the track playing, Clinton soon realized the power of Hazel's solo and faded them out so that the focus would be on Hazel's guitar. Critics have described the solo as "lengthy, mind-melting" and the ending as "an emotional apocalypse of sound."
   
   The entire track was recorded in one take. The solo is played in a pentatonic minor scale in the key of E over another guitar track of a simple arpeggio. Hazel's solo was played through a fuzzbox and a wah pedal; some sections of the song utilize a delay effect. This style would be revisited later in Standing on the Verge of Getting It On on the track "Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts". The original version with full band accompaniment was released in 1997 on the album "Funkadelic Finest".

   
   

The fear of death follows from the fear of life.  A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.  ~Mark Twain

Picking at Old Scars

As many of my friends know I get these “great” ideas from time to time.  But there is this one that keeps coming back over the years.  “Let’s make a movie!”  Years later, and several camcorders later too, there is nothing to show for it. It’s my personal unicorn or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Most of the time it just ends with talk and no actions.  Part lack of creativity and part lack of stick-to-it-ous. 

So today my mind is wondering at work and it hits me look for lamps on Amazon.com so you can NOW make a movie.  Also Paranormal Activity started the wheel turning again too.  If they can do an $11,000 movie, I can do a $20 short. LOL

I get on Google chat with Lu and say let’s try again, and to my surprise he says sure he got a new camera he wants to try out.  I was expecting an “again?” or “are you going to finish this time?”  He mentions my old script.  This is the closest we ever got to making a movie.  It was a script I wrote years ago while sitting in class one day.  For the record I didn’t like it, and every time I read it I hate it even more now.  Everyone that read it said they like it but refused help edit or improve it.  I want it to disappear from the earth but it is the closest I have ever gotten to seeing a unicorn and don’t want to lose that.

My main focuses of my shame is how poorly it was written, the language used (it was many years ago and I have matured a lot), and it reads like a complete rip off.  So now it’s time to lay it rest and replace it.

So I start my Winter challenges.  First challenge is the Creative Writing Challenge: to write a short script no more than 10 minutes.  Contain little to no special effects and a single room location.  I sent out the challenge to Susan, and she accepted the writing challenge.  This should be fun.

I am also challenging everyone else to accept this script writing challenge and let’s see what we can come up with.

…to be continued.

Bad Boy 4 Life

In current pop culture news, it looks like rapper Shyne will be deported after being released from prison.  If you don’t who the guy is, you probable not a Bad Boy Music Label fan, any time in the last 12-13 years.  Shyne was a young promising rapper from the streets of NY that sounded a lot like Notorious BIG, Biggie.  *Dateline, Signal the Musical Child Predator* Puff Daddy, Puffy, P-Diddy, Diddy, Sean Combs the music business tycoon behind one of the greatest rapper of all time B.I.G. got wind of a guy sounding like Biggie and signed him under his music label, Bad Boy.  Puff took him under his wing like he does most of his young artist to groom his career.

At this time Puff was the luckiest dude in America, more than the President, he was dating and hopefully tapping (can’t assume he’s not a Decepticon) the most famous booty in America, Jennifer Lopez.  So one night they go to a night club and NYC and of course shots are fired.  Someone was hurt, Puff and Latin Booty flee the scene.  Scandal.  Puff and his Biggie Pokémon are arrested.  Police say Puff and Shyne both pulled guns in a “dispute” after a person disrespectfully threw money at Big Daddy Dollars Mr. Combs.  Shyne’s dumb ass fired and shot someone in the face.  Puff’s driver says Diddy tried to bribe him in to taking his gun.  The same driver who later takes Puff Daddy to civil court and gets a settlement (for you Michael Jackson and OJ Simpson people ;-) means he was guilty, right???). 

Here’s where my opinion comes in.  They both get the same charges against them but like a smart guy, Puff ( the rich guy of the two ) get another lawyer.  He buys the greatest lawyer on earth, at the time, Johnny L. Cochran Jr.  I would too, if I had the money.  And Shyne was left to fend for himself in court.  I would of thrown Shyne some money for a lawyer upgrade, that’s a rich me.  Smart for Puff but it may not be the most loyal (street) thing to do either.  Even drug king pins give their best guys and friends money and access to their favorite lawyers, if only so the don’t snitch.  But Diddy is too pretty to go to jail, and not a “street” dude.  I thought he did Shyne kind of dirty in saving his own ass.  I mean, one, you are the rich one of the two.  Two, you supposedly took the guy under your wing and befriended him to the point of loyalty.  Also most like a father figure to that young man.  Finally, the guy got in trouble defending you!  Sure it was a dumb way of doing it, but not like you wasn’t involved in it too.

Shyne being the stand up guy (and street) that he is, he didn’t turn on Diddy.  He plead guilty and didn’t testify against Combs.  Of course, Diddy beat the case with his super lawyer.  One juror actually said Diddy was guilty but the prosecution couldn’t prove it’s case.  Why wouldn’t that work for Shyne too?  He was up for the same charges, was standing right beside each other???

Was Shyne guilty, yes.  And so was Diddy.  The people outside the courthouse protesting and claiming his innocents are retarded.  They didn’t know he was innocent, they just like the guy.  He’s popular, that’s all they know, and like his music.  They don’t know him personally.  Most of the people that was on his label don’t think nicely of him.  A real friend or someone who cares about you will tell you when you are wrong and not just overlook it. And fans will not.

I do like when people beat the justice system designed to work against them, but it doesn’t change the fact they were wrong.  It is also troubling that the justice system is not the same for someone with money verses someone without.  Now the poor kid from the streets, Shyne was not a US citizen.  He carried a green card.  He been in the country since early teens.  Typical immigrant story of a poor family saving up to bring the rest over to America for a better life.  It’s sad the family dream was almost greatly achieved with Shyne getting a record deal and famous mentor (who brought the world one of the greatest rappers of all time) then only seeing it being locked away or put on hold.  Shyne could still be a great rapper and make millions, but the problem is - he is not a citizen and committed a felony, he must go.  Seriously, I am all for this law!  We should not have criminals as a US import, we have enough home grown ones.  But is Shyne special, should he be allowed to stay, because people “like” him?  No.  He is in fact no different from any ol’ Hector.

I commend the guy for being tough through prison (and not snitching when he easily could taken down the music mogul) and I think he is a good/alright rapper but just winning a popularity contest is not enough in my book to be above the law.  Also, he is a rapper and well known, he has a much better chance at a fulfilling life overseas than some poor knucklehead with no education does.  He doesn’t NEED to live here, would just LIKE to.  He can still make music, shit the internet don’t care what country you are in.  Shyne is just a victim of stupidity, idol worshiping, and Diddiness.  For that, I feel bad for him.  I’m sorry he was a talented guy that crossed paths with Puff Daddy.  I think Puff should of had him take the Nationalization test while he had him under his wing too.  I mean he grew up here, why not?! 

I also feel sorry for the families that were hurt in the shooting.  For that reason, Shyne doesn’t not get a free pass.  He hurt people.  Those families should not have to see him and Diddy grinning and hopping down the street of NYC on a shopping spree (Not that they ever would, Shyne hates Diddy now).  Shyne should put a hit out on Diddy for ruining his life, since he can’t come back to America anyway…just a thought.

I think we all can learn a lesson from Shyne’s story.  Want to support him, then buy his music on itunes when it comes out so he can make money still –and pay back the civil suit he lost to the families that were hurt in the shooting.  Just please don’t argue he is innocent or should stay here because he is not and shouldn’t stay.  We have enough popular “bad boys” already.

Pet Peeve #3: Special People Type A

To me there are two types of special people. Type A – people that think they are special and Type B – people that are retardedly special.  Let’s be honest, to be called special now-a-days is not a good thing anymore.  I can’t stand Type A Special People.

These are the people that act like the world owes them something.  They are amazed when they have to pay for something, which always costs “too much”, because everything for them should be free.

They don’t believe rules apply to them.  I hate playing games with rewards and consequences with these people.  They are the ones that will join in drinking games and refuse to drink.  You don’t have to play!  Sit your monkey ass out, if you don’t feel like drinking anymore.  If everyone else is drinking because they lost, what makes you special?  You only want the rewards, you selfish, self-centered bastard. It’s like you joining us in a bank robbery but not wanting to go to jail when you get caught.  If you don’t like jail then don’t participate, you knew before you started what happens when you lose. …“the cake and eat it too”

They don’t like waiting their turn in line.  No remorse for cutting in front of people.  Because once again, rules don’t apply to them. Especially, social rules.

They don’t say thank you when you hold doors for them, because that’s like asking them to pay for a service they are using; even with simple words of gratitude for not letting the door hit them in the face for which they would later dog you out for not holding the door for their special ass.

One telling fact is no matter what, if these special people tell it, they are 99.9% of the time never wrong and it is always someone else's fault or excuse riddled tales.

You can tell these people by the two simple assumptions they make:

1. The rules don’t apply to them, but work for them.
2. They should never be required to be grateful.  Because they are God’s gift to the world and the world owes them.  Even though they could die this moment and 99.98% of the world wouldn’t give a damn.

You know theses people and are friends with them.  You might even be one without realizing people see you as one.  Ask yourself how often it is someone else’s fault or how often you believe stuff should be given to you (like how often you complain about paying for something).  Do you try to sneak, slip, or get around systems?  Do you back out, renege on your word (say you would participate and then back out) because you don’t want to and find excuses?  You are one of those special assholes.  I bet money, you get mad when someone calls you out on it, because you are in fact a special person and are never in the fault.