Monday, June 6, 2011

Let's Talk About Sports

Recently I was on the social network site known as facebook and a friend of mine posted something about his or at least one of his favorite sports team. I had made a comment back saying that I had seen one of the games and I liked where it was being held. Looked like a good sized arena from the camera veiw I saw. When another facebook friend had written something back in responce to my comment it finally hit me:

Never make a useless comment about a Canadians hockey team. Especially during the Stanley Cup Finals. Reason is very simple and I have heard this saying before but obviously it slipped my mind:

Canadian's take their hockey seriously.

Now, I wasn't durogatory about the game or it's team. I am not that big of a sports fan to make it a point of saying " yeah this or that team is better than your's." Quite honestly it never made much sense.

Now, don't get me wrong, my reader's, I do have teams in basketball, baseball, hockey, and football that I do like, but that doesn't mean that I don't like the other guy's or girls team because in all honesty their equally the same.

It doesn't matter what the sport is every team in it has had their share of victorys, losses and championships. I guess it might be because I am not that big of a sports fan that I dont get the whole picture.

Before I continue, I think I should make it clear that I am not trying to say that liking ones country or city team is a bad thing because it isn't. One thing these teams do in any given sport is it takes you away from your daily routine when you sit down and watch it. To a degree it is entertainment. Either you or your friends and family are taking time out of your busy daily life to sit down either in a stadium or an arena or at home to watch these men or ladies play their respective sport.

There is nothing wrong with that at all. I have seen my share of superbowl games and I have rooted for the team that I thought would win, thats not to say that by the end of the game when said team might have lost that I didn't give credit were it was due to the team that did win.

I wouldn't doubt that even if my friends hockey team doesn't win I dont picture him to be the sort of person to degrade the winning team. He may not be a fan, he doesn't have to be, but at least he would give credit were it is due and might say it was a well played game by both teams.

From what I understand, not everybody feels that way.

Recently, during a baseball game in California a man got into a fight with another man over whos team was better. One of the men is in jail for beating the other guy so bad that his chances for recovery are slim.

And all this happened over two baseball teams.

Now, granted, the man in jail had some realy serious problems and according from what I heard on this news report he had a violent streek in him prior to this. But, this all started over two fans of two sports teams playing a game of "my team is better than yours"

I have been to my share of, basketball, baseball and football games and yes you do meet the occasional person that thinks he or she has to play the afore mentioned game, but it's all in good fun.

You may or may not agree with what I am going to say or what I have said in this blog, but I will give you one more hypothesis on sports.

In any given baseball, basketball, football or hockey game you have each team saying they are going to win the game. In all fairness, they have the talent, but for either team the only way to know this happens once the game is played. I think it basically is about what team wants it more. And neither team knows that untill they are out there on a feild or a court or a rink playing the game.

In closing I would like to add this:
Go Vancouver Canucks!!!!!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Standing In The Corner + Time Out= Same Thing

I have said this before, but this time I mean it. This will be my last blog entry untill I move.

Trust me.

Do you remember when you were growing up and as a young child you would do something your parents did not approve and be told to 'go stand in the corner'? I think just about every child has been told that.

Now a days its called 'time out'. It doesn't matter what you call it, it is still the same thing. It could be standing at a wall or sitting in a chair or what ever the parent doing the disiplining deems necessary.

I think the reason for calling it time out as aposed to the corner might have to do with the length of time a kid was supposed to stand. Depending on the parent it might have been anywhere from five to ten minutes. If you were a smart parent. I recall hearing once on a news report and this is no lie, that a parent got arrested for having her child stand in the corner for over five hours. To me and I guess to any rational thinking parent thats too long.

But, regardless and I am not trying to excuse this woman's behavior, but you are the parent ( if you are a parent) and from what I have learned is that no parent likes to be told how to disapline their kid. To a degree I can't say I blame them. I would only take exception if the parent makes the evening news and outright abuses their kid, even than I don't know if I would say or do anything.

I feel as a single male with no children I can learn not just from other parents about how to be a effective dad when and if God allows me to, but I can also learn from my experiance as a child and how I was disaplined.

Now, with all due respect to my mother she did the best she could with myself and my sibling and looking back I would have to say she wasn't abusive with us, but with that being said, she got her point accross. I hope that one day I can do the same with my children.

I remember watching an old episode of Little House On The Prairie where in a flash back episode of the Micheal Landon character as young boy. He had did something to his teacher, the teacher knew the boy had did it and told the boys father. The father while still in front of the teacher, let the instructor paddle the boy. Only thing was the teacher didn't stop when the boys father wanted him too.

I personally see a problem with this happening in real life situations and that is some times other people don't know when to quit the disapline if the parent of the child agrees that they can do so.

Mom and dad come home and they notice that some one went over board.

Thats not only wrong in my opinion but a crime as well.

If you recall I had wrote in an earlier blog about a friend of mine who misplaced his cell phone and went all around his house asking his wife and kids if thay had seen it. When it was finally figured out that one of his kids, after telling my friend no he didn't see or use it, my friend told me he had to 'Be a dad' and put a bit of a restriction on him. The child in question was a teenager, but it doesn't really make a difference a parent has to do what they feel is right if they think their kids are not being honest with them.

Lastly I will leave you , my reader's with this. First, I will honestly tell you I do not know the percentage of parents that do this, but I am aware that some use what I like to call 'the counting method'. Basically, the parent wants the child to either do or stop something, if the child doesn't than the parent would start counting. The hypothesis is by at least the number two, the kid is on their way to do whatever or has stopped doing what ever. If the parent got to three and the kid didn't stop, he or she was in some hot water as they say.

I once knew of a kid who's parents did get to three. He told me and I quote " I shouldn't have pushed them"

If anybody reading this is a parent this blog was in no way shape or form trying to tell you how to raise or disapline your kid. I trust you are a fair parent and you all go about the task with honesty and integrity.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Stain America Can Not Wash Away

Over the weekend I was watching an episode of an old televison series called The Waltons. In this episode, filmed around 1978 followed a character named Virdie Foster, an African American who, if you remember the show was a friend of the Walton family and thus a recurring character played by actress Lynn Hamilton. This particular episode delt with Virdie and her daughter.

The daughter who just recently came back home has had trouble finding work. Mostly the show centered around racism and just because this woman was black she couldn't find the type of job she was trained for. Like I said for anyone who remember's the Waltons knows it was set in the southern part of the United States in the late 1930's early 1940's and this 'Virde' had to deal with what was once known as 'Jim Crow' law.

Racism is a stain America cannot wash away and we only have ourselves as a country to blame. Early American settlers in the 1700' who had an abundance of land didn't want to hire people to do the work, ie picking and plowing the feilds so they thought kidnapping people from their native lands and forcing them to do the work was a bright idea.

It wasn't.

Ove 200 years later we still can non shake it. Granted there has a been alot of progress. One and this has to be the most obvious the first black president,Barack Obama.

Regardles of how much progress we have made we still take one step backward when we aren't as nice as we should be and start being a tad racist.

Everyone is guilty of this.

At one time or another we all have used the "N" word when refering to an African American. Perhaps we didn't mean to, but we did it anyway.

Years before I had my computer, I used to go into what is known as (at least in the state of Califoria) internet cafe's, where you could be able to either play popular computer games or you could surf the world wide web. So, I am in this cafe and some one is playing music. I think as a joke, (a very bad one in my opinion) starts playing this song that was so racist towards blacks, I had to leave.

I have friends that are African American, and I consider anyone who uses the 'N' word ( you know what word I am refering to) in front of me to be criticizing those friends of mine. They have never met my frends, but I feel that since they used the word, I have to to a degree defend them.

But racism works both ways. It's not just whites ( some of them) against blacks, its blacks as well.

I will give you an example.

In the late 1990's I was asked by two good friends of mine if I would be a usher for their wedding. They told me I would need a tuxedo and where to go to find it. I get to the place (a shopping mall in southern california) walk all around it both first and second floors, but I couldn't find the store. So, finally I start asking. I see this one gentleman with his family and I say maybe four to five times 'pardon me, sir', the guy doesn't answer. Finally after my last try one of his children says to him, " dad, this guy is trying to talk to you" The guy turns toward his kid and says and I quote " I ain't talkin' to whitey" and than walks from me

All I wanted to know is if he knew where this tuxedo shop was.

Personally I feel that it is in how you or we are raised. If you live or lived in a family where hatred runs or ran ramped you yourself might turn out the same way bcause you would think their is nothing wrong with how you feel.

Earlier in this blog I mentioned current United States President, Barack Obama. Possibly ever since he won the office or maybe even before that he (Obama) wasn't born in America, so to prove that he was showed his birth certificate to the world proving he is an American citizen.

There are two sides to this: One is the Republican side that thinks because Obama is a Democrat that he isn't doing that good of a job and want him out of the White House.

Second is racism. It has to be, unfortunately. There are people in this country that do not want a black person as president. It's sad, but it's the truth.

In the early 1990's an African American named Rodney King was pulled over by three or four police officer's for a traffic violation. These officer's were caught on camera beating King up in the middle of the street. about a year or so later, King took these officer's to court to which they were found innocent of their actions and thus started the Los Angeles riots. A few days into the riots, King made a televison apperence where he asked those who were rioting to quit and thus uttered the saying " Can't we all just get along?"

Can we?

Friday, May 6, 2011

The Death Of Osama Bin Laden

With this Sundays news of the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin laden brought a lot of relief and celebration for alot of people. The thing is, was it all necessary. His capture, yes most definitely, but all of the crowds gathering in certain locations like in front of the White House and in New York at Ground Zero wasn't necessary.

But, it happened.

Dont get me wrong, I was very saddened the morning of Tuesday, september 11th, 2001. An estimated 3000 lives were lost and for really no reason other than one man's hatred for a country he most likely had never been to.

I cannot unerstand that, I doubt anyone really can for that matter, but to have hatred for something you have either never seen or have never been to.


I have heard tons of storys of countrys that either, One: have little or no freedoms to them, for instance, North Korea where from my understanding it's leader makes his citizens obey him. Or country's that have laws that, well quite simply shouldn't be allowed. I may not agree with it but I don't hate it.

Hate is a word I think that has been taken out of content. In America some aspects of hate can be considered a crime.

You may or may not agree with someones way of life. That is not a crime, its called a disagreement. It becomes a crime when you do bodily harm to a person because for lack of a better term, they don't see things your way.

To a degree that's what it was with bin laden. For what ever the reason was, he didn't agree with America's right to freedom. At least that seems to be the story alot of people say. Perhaps it is far more deep seeded than that.

I have stated this previously in another blog about dictatorship and for me as an American and living with the freedoms that it has allowed me, some times I find myself asking why can't countrys like Pakistan, Iran, and other's have the same liberites we have. Its easy to say that when you live in a country that allows those freedoms, it is probably more difficult to live somewhere for instance like North Korea where from my understanding if you have the slightist question of authority you could be jailed for it.

It took almost 17 to 18 years to catch bin laden. He has been on the FBI 's most wanted list for more than 10 years and it wasn't easy. Even when he was found this past weekend, it was a guessing game because they really were not sure if he was there or not. Regardless, the hunch paid off and bin laden is no more.

Whether or not the world will be a safer place remains to be seen.


The sad part is and I will say this again, weather it is because of our freedoms, or laws that say here is what you can or cannot do or what ever the case may be some one somwhere is not going to like it and may try to do something. it could be in any country not just America.

I will leave you with this thought: Regardless of what it is and why terrorist do it wouldn't you want your country to be defended if necessary?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy Anniversary, F.P.T.F.

I had mentioned on my Facebook page that I would not be writing a blog untill I had moved and got situated,but I started thinking and I did a little bit of looking and what I found was that today, April, 27, 2011 is the one year anniversary of my blog.

From Paper To Film is one year old today. Yay!!

I will freely admit to this, its nothing to ashamed of, but I remember last year and prior to creating the blog thinking to my self,"what have I got to write about and how important is it for people to read it?"

With some encouragement from a friend, (thanks again T.H.W.) I decided the only way for me to know if I have anything to say and if people are going to like it was to just start writing and thus, here it is one year later.

I have covered some ground with this blog. I feel I have alot more to go and a lot more on my mind and I look for ward to writing it and I pray that you , my reader's are looking forward to reading it as well.

I do, like almost everyone have my share of critics. These people have the hypothesis that I shouldn't have done this blog at all. One person even went as far as to make copys of it because she didn't like what I was writing and thought she would try to get me in trouble. Didn't work. Free speech. I win.

As you have noticed with the topics of 'FPTF' even though some have been controversial, I have never been dirty and never really used harsh language, even though I must admit I was tempted to. If you were reading some of these topics before they were posted, you probably would have gasped over what you read.

The version you did read was alot better than some one who wants to be like everyone else and drop f- bombs in certain titles. There is no excuse for it and I feel a lot better giving you the versions you have read.

So, here it is, like it or not. "From Paper To Film" is one year old and I personally would like to thank you, my reader's for the support and for giving your feedback.

I hope it will continue.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Kennedy's And The Royal Family ( Well, The Wedding Anyway)

Over the weekend I watched a miniseries based upon the Kennedy family. For those of you reading that may not know too much about the Kennedy's basically its the family of former American president, John F Kennedy. There have been many movies based upon them some of which I have not seen because frankly they didn't interest me, but this one, called " The Kennedy's" caught my eye for a couple reasons.

One, because it was supposed to be on a different network, but for what ever the reason it was too controversial for them.

Second were the actors and actress's. Great cast. I am not going to name them, but if you want to see it, I recommend getting the dvd, because the cast alone was suberb.

One of the reasons I guess I have not seen movies based upon either JFK or his family is because you don't whats real. As it happend with politics, so many storys surface about a political figure that you don't know whats real and what isn't. And I think when it comes to JFK and his assination once again you get so many stories that you don't whats real and what isn't.

I have never been one for conspiracy theories mostly because they are way too out landish. You get something that has happend in either American or world history more often than not some one is going to have a hypothesis about it and it might be so far out of no where that you have to tell them to shut up because they're simply talking out of their asse's.

Pardon the language.

I dont have an hypothesis on the JFK assination, but I will say this: It's sad that he didn't get the oppertunity of one: finishing his presidency and two: living out the rest of his life and watching both his children and grandchildren grow up.

Enough said.

The Wedding of Prince William and Cate Middleton is coming in about a week and I personally can not wait.

Till it's over and televison and just about everybody on can stop going overboard with it.

But it is television and they dont know how to leave anything alone till they bleed it dry. Personally, I find it pathedeic.Televison does not have to go to the extremes they are going to when it comes to these two. There are cable channels that are having "specials" on the wedding.

There is even a made for tv movie on how they first met in the works.

All of this is uncalled for. Now, don't me wrong, I have alot of respect for the Royal family, They have their place in both American and world history just like the Kennedy's. I just feel that they are going way too far with this whole wedding thing.

I won't be watching it.

I have always felt that a wedding ceremony should be kept a little private. Invite your family your friends and all that. But don't have it televised. Hate to break it to you but the whole world isn't interested that you're getting married. Half of the world's population don't really care about William & Cate's so they won't care about your's or mine. (when and if it happens.)

Leave your wedding private. Don't plaster it for the whole known universe to see it because it's just damn annoying.

I am going to do something I have not done in a while. I am going to give a suggestion on a film. Hope you get the chance to watch it.

The film is called "JFK" and it was directed by Accademy Award winning director Oliver Stone (Platoon) and star's Kevin Costner amongst other's. Its a great film and with out giving it away, it can get a little slow when it starts to bring up theorys of how who and why they killed him.

But, none the less, a great film.

I also recommend the Kennedy Miniseries I made reference to earlier.

Look for it on dvd. Its really good.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Another Blog.

Hello to you all. I am currently doing research on my next blog topic. I hope to be able to find all the information and to be able to write by Sunday at the lastest.

Be blessed and enjoy the rest of the week

here's a tip for you all.

Never send a monster to do the work of an evil scientist.