The Story so far 1

Mr. White starts out their business venture by stealing chemistry supplies from the school that he works at, and takes out money from his savings to purchase a mobile home for the purpose of turning it into a mobile meth lab. I imagine that a majority of viewers realized that this is the start of the intro where they crash the Winnebago, well it was. After "supposedly" disposing of the two rival drug dealers with phosphine oxide, which was previously mentioned as being extremely toxic, and relatively easy to make when the meth cooking process is messed up. Then is a panicked rage, Walter picks up an unconscious Jessie, dawns a gas mask, and attempts to drive a toxic mobile home from what he erroneously assumes to be police cars. After crashing said mobile home, he prepares himself to have a final stand with the cops, only to realize that they firefighters responding to the wildfire caused by a discarded cigarette. After that mishap, Jessie and him have the difficult job of disposing of the two bodies. Many morbidly hilarious moments ensue in this process, and a few moments of deep reflection amidst the chaos.It turns out that Jessie is very squeamish, and Walter simply is not a violent person, which I have a problem seeing since he attempted to gas two people to death. But, I will admit that it is an entirely different matter to kill in order to save your life, versus executing an incapacitated individual.

Man, a lot has changed since the first two episodes. Now I am currently sitting at the third season episode five, ah where to begin?
        After the dynamic duo took care of the dead bodies they set to work on building their empire. They had no problem with manufacturing however, they had no way of selling a large enough amount of product in order for Walter to make enough money to support his family when he is gone. Based on a tip from everyone's favorite meth buddy, Skinny Pete (which sounds like a bit of a sexual joke when they call him "Skinny P"), Jessie and Skinny Pete set off to strike a deal with Tuoco. Unfortunately, Tuoco turns out to be one brutally violent and psychotic SOB, who ends up putting Jessie in the hospital. In response to this, Walter goes to meet with Tuoco himself. During this meeting Walter uses the wonderful world of chemistry to construct an explosive that shows Tuoco that Walter is not one to be messed with. And thus, the unorthodox business venture with Tuoco has begun. The deal is that Walter and Jessie will produce 2 pounds of meth a week and will receive $75,000 dollars in return. Two pounds is then increased to four because of Walters habit of making irrational decisions; except there is a problem, they don't have the ability to collect the pseudo-ephedrine required for that amount of volume. A solution to this little snag will be to obtain methlamine which bypasses the need for pseudo-ephedrine. For Jessie and Walter to get methlamine they need to either hire a team of professional thieves to break into a chemical storage facility or being the meth cookers on a budget as they usually are, they do the job themselves. With a pair of hideous red and green ski masks, the two make off with a fifty gallon drum that they struggle to carry away (I guess they skip leg day, bad idea). 
             With methlamine in hand, Walter works his magic in the lab and the end result is meth, blue meth to be exact (Technically it was blue hard candy that was still in liquid form when it was poured). Now they have a way to make their product easily recognizable, so it is not only the highest quality meth, but it is also easy to tell that it is their product on site. This example of product differentiation in a monopolistically competitive market is what allows Walter to set the price up, while simultaneously reducing consumer surplus. What is strange is that he is able to continue to set his price up and increase output. Normally once a firm increases output they must lower the price to a point along to the demand curve, unless the demand curve has shifted to the right. This must be because of a change in consumer taste and preference, which is one of the only ways to make and increase of price and quantity supplied increase (By the way i have been studying Econ all day so I know I rambled a bit, and I am also guessing that most of that is wrong but I'm half asleep so give me a break)

Food Matters

Food Matters was an eye opening documentary that I viewed on Netflix. I have gotten into these types of documentaries because I am interested in a healthier lifestyle, and my girlfriend is vegan. I too have many food restrictions because of my allergy to lactose, and celiac disease.
     This documentary sheds light on what keeps us alive, food. In the early days of science, most philosophers predicted that eating a healthy diet is the key to a long and healthy life. For most countries, their diet is unhealthy due to lack of food, or an abundance of unhealthy food. Cultures such as Japan eat mainly lean fish and rice. Their diet is the very thing that makes their country have one of the lowest rates of cancer in the world. While America has a diet high in fats and sodium, and suffers from an epidemic of heart disease and various types of cancer.
     I learned many interesting facts and changed my opinion on a few issues concerning food while watching Food Matters. Since my girlfriend is vegan I have heard many "Benefits" to the diet and I agreed with a majority of them. However, there was a section of veganism that i thought was full of crap, the Raw vegans. Why on earth would not cooking food be healthier? Apparently there are quite a few reasons. For starters cooking vegetables kills any enzymes that are living inside it, those enzymes are essential for a healthy body. Also, consuming cooked food weakens the immune system because the body treats cooked food as a type of germ or poison. Cooked food has its chemical make up changed which is why the body does not recognize it, and spends a lot of energy trying to fight off what it doesn't recognize.

Why does the media not care about Thanksgiving?

How many songs about Thanksgiving have you heard? None? Well same here people, nor have I seen any horrible lifetime or Hallmark movies about it (come to think of it there have to be some of those, but who cares?). There is only the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, other than that it marks that Christmas is a month away. There is not much profit to be made in Thanksgiving, except for local chain grocery stores to sell packages so no one has to cook, or there are cheap decorations, and of course some crappy NFL teams play in a game that no one cares about.

When Crimes Become "Justifiable"

            Hearing any type of crime on the news receives a "What are things coming to?" but when is this not the case? Typically in your new found favorite movie, video game, or television program. Crimes such as murder, grand theft auto, larceny, the production of an illegal substance, and buying and selling of an illegal substance.  All of these things are commonplace within our various forms of media, so why are we shocked when these things occur in real life? Usually because we aren't personally involved in the crime. For when we are watching whatever the characters are shown in a favorable way, and there are justifications for their actions. Mainly because there are few viable excuses in this day and age.
         
            Poor people are given aid by the government to pay for medical treatment and to help when they are out of work. So the "I'm just stealing to pay for medicine for my sick mother." doesn't really work anymore. Stealing is mainly used as a way to feed a drug addicts habits. Working could be just as profitable as stealing in the long run seeing as how you wouldn't be in jail. However, that doesn't appear to be a popular option. Drugs can be glamorized in the media but don't be fooled. Drugs ruin the lives of millions of people every year. They addict poor people and make them even more poor. Drugs like meth ruin entire small communities all over middle America. So screw Walter White that guy is an jerk and that false world would have been better off if he would have died of cancer. Or instances of torture and mass murder. In light of current events this topic would certainly be a sensitive one.
         
              In the film Punisher two instances of mass murder occur. One in the beginning where the main character's family is massacred as if they were nothing. This horrific scene was simply a way to create the "Punisher" character and to give a justifiable reason for this "anti-hero" to go on a spree of murder and torture. All of this is done in such a way that glorifies the horrible crimes being committed. Frank Castle (The "Punisher") starts off by tearing apart the relationships that the antagonist has with his best friend and wife. Then in a climactic display of violence, revenge, and almost sickening cruelty Frank kills every single one of the Saints (Antagonist gang), and acted as if what he did was nothing. This movie is pretty much a disgusting revenge porno for future school shooters. The Punisher is a dangerous movie, violence on this scale shouldn't be depicted in any way other than being horrible. How is Frank different from the Saints? The only difference is that the Saints killed his family first, sounds like the logic of a 6 year old. Now don't get me wrong, I believe anyone is within their rights to have "an eye for an eye". However they must accept that they will become the same as the ones they despise so terribly.

             Worthless violence is also shown in the Walking Dead (Now I know what you're thinking I've milked this subject like crazy and you are most certainly right! But, there is so much content to discuss that I can't help to continue to write about the Walking Dead). The series itself sheds light on this quite well. With characters being told not to always kill zombies when it is not necessary to do so. An argument that "they are just zombies" makes the majority of viewers not even bat an eye when hundreds of zombies are executed, or stabbed in the face. Another problem is that the humans themselves are overly violent with one another. Different bands of humans constantly commit acts of Guerrilla warfare or perhaps what would be considered terrorism on one another. The directors of the show refuse to believe that humans would simply work together in this situation instead of shooting at the first sight of another living being. This show makes it seem as though humans are no different than the zombies, which may be a point which they are trying to show. Anyone watching this show would most likely get an unrealistic idea of what they should act like whenever society breaks down. Furthermore, the ridiculous and constant amount of violence will desensitize the viewer. Which nowadays people don't need any help with seeing as how we see hundreds of thousands of people being killed in the media in our lifetime.

Thoughts and Prayers to France

This recent attack on France was horrible in every possible way. The assailants are awful people and deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The very fact that France was attacked is awful for the sole reason that France accepts many Muslims into their country with 1/3 of its population being Muslim. They are a very tolerant country that did not deserve to be attacked, nor did any nation. These Muslim extremists should be ashamed to have attacked a country that is accepting of all countries. Claims that this was "justifiable", just like the last attack on France because of a drawing of Muhammad. No one person should be killed because of a silly drawing. Those who claim it is have no right to live on this planet. France has any right to exact its own justice on these assailants.

The Cool Crime of Robbery

Famous words from the lovable robot Bender Rodriguez, however I don't believe many would share in the approval of those words. Especially not those who have been robbed themselves. A person who comes to mind would be my language arts teacher. She was robbed of her electronics, and has to go through the difficult process of calling the insurance company and getting everything resolved. A robbery occurs every 13 seconds. Therefore, a life is forever changed by this one occurrence. Having your home being broken into and your stuff stolen makes one feel vulnerable and angry. It can change a person, especially if they were home or the thought of what may have happened if they were home popped into their head. Depending on the individual they may purchase a firearm or get more locks on their doors. None of this is taken into account or shown in most shows.

In Futurama Bender steals constantly and couldn't care less about the consequences. That is the problem with these television shows. They depict serious situations in which real people suffer. The same is true of drinking, or smoking. Now seeing as how Bender is a robot and in the show alcohol is the fuel that robots run on, and smoking wouldn't hurt him at all. However all of these activities have fairly serious consequences for those around. Children whose parents smoke must undergo second hand smoke and all the nasty side effects that comes with that. While the children may be hungry at home one or both of their parents may be pissing away their already meager income on smokes or booze. Booze that may cause their father to come home and beat the kids or wife, sometimes both.

Although I know I'm being pessimistic I get extremely upset whenever I hear a friend talk about how they are often hungry. The following statement is one that will always stick with me "Wow, you actually have food in your refrigerator, not just booze.". Seemingly simple, but my connection with that person made it all the more powerful. It's also why I have no tolerance for parents wasting money on booze and cigarettes.

 http://www.safeguardtheworld.com/statistics.html

The Curiosity for a Dystopian Society

Many a movies and books have derived from the curiosity of what the future may hold, and how it may differ from our current society. The possibilities of what futures can be told is only limited to a writer's imagination. Examples include The Hunger Games, Psycho-Pass, The Matrix, or any number of futuristic sci-fi movies in which a Government, or system controls the citizens through fear, intimidation, and execution. What makes these great stories? The very fact that they deviate so clearly from the order that we know today titillates the mind. Making oneself question what they would do if such a government came to pass. Would you simply go with the flow, or become an anarchist in order to bring back the freedoms that were lost? Infinite scenarios can be created, and the emotions tied with these stories are of the utmost passionate. For they represent the truth behind human nature, freedom.

Even those who have not know freedom such as the slaves of our worlds' past and present, to the characters controlled by an all powerful government in a story, all realize that something is missing. Even when faced with a situation where a human may feel like all hope is lost, the thought of freedom shines clearly through any delusions of self doubt. These are the people whom against all odds challenge a seemingly invincible system despite the odds they face.

Even though the Matrix is childish at times, and is sometimes pretty laughable, it sheds light on an interesting topic, free will. Imagine, we as human beings are the only life in the entire galaxy that we know of. Is that a coincidence or an erroneous assumption? Consider this: If we are the only observable life would it suffice to say that we ourselves could be nothing more than a computer game for another world? Think of it as a real life SIMS game, however we have real feelings and are much more complex. Therefore is it possible for us to merely be a computer animation, or perhaps a social experiment for another dimension that places instigators within our midst's to test us? This would be quite an alarming realization, despite the reality being that we would not be able to figure out that reality seeing as how we wouldn't have the code necessary to complete such a task. One could think about such a reality for an eternity and never come up with an answer.

An even more alarming reality would be if the world order which currently runs the world could be on the verge of becoming a real life dystopian society. Of course a real life example of this would be communism and socialism. A simplistic version of this system is shown in George Orwell's Animal Farm which was a representation of the communist revolution and the figures that made it all possible. These systems of government decide what an individual may or may not do, they will be chosen for a job, their "purpose" in life will be planned out with no hope of deviating from the chosen path. All of this control will be touted under a flag of unity and brotherhood. However that is nothing more than total control, and deceiving the very people that a government should protect.

Re-telling of History is Hard to Do.

While the future holds infinite possibilities, representing the past in a story has certain restrictions that make these more difficult to be realistic. Such as the popular 300 movies. These movies are laughably inaccurate for the sake of being war porn. The true story behind this heroic event is much more compelling and believable. In truth it wasn't just the 300 Spartans, there were not exotic beasts, or ridiculous inventions. Just the pure fighting spirit of those who are fighting against tyranny. Granted these movies were not made with accuracy in mind, therefore they should be treated as just another Expendables. However it is sad to think that the true story of the Battle for Thermopylae may be lost in light of this new adaptation. This is an excellent example as to why movies made about past events often lead to ridiculous plot lines and have no resemblance to the past which they claim is being shown.

An important note to add would be that these stories can be done very well, such as Saving Private Ryan. This masterpiece of cinema is often hailed as being the most accurate depiction of D-Day and the weeks following the operation. Something that a history teacher of mine once told me has really hit home on the reality of this film. His experience with the film can be summed up by his statement during class one day "When I was watching Saving Private Ryan with my father who was a veteran of that operation, something he said stuck with me. My father looked over to me with tears in his eyes proclaiming that the landing really was that horrible. I haven't seen him act this way about D-Day before. You see these veterans were traumatized so severely that they try and avoid re-living the landing. This film helped them relive it in a way that they didn't have to go through their personal experience in order to tell the story." That stuck with me through the film. Being a history buff myself I was able to truly appreciate the details they put into the reality of the violence. Also the resulting trauma that those men developed after going through such an event.

The "Future" in Entertainment

It is fairly entertaining to go back and watch old cartoons and movies attempting to predict what the future would be like. Surprisingly Back to the Future was pretty darn accurate in most of their predictions. Minus the Cubs winning the world series 5-0, which isn't even possible... But that's beside the point. Also the clothes and hover boards were wishful thinking but also silly. However their depiction of the technology we would have in 2015 was pretty good. Also in Star Trek. They rightfully depicted that we would have voice recognition software in the near future, and touch screen devices, wireless headsets and more. Comical representations are shown in the Jetsons, where they believed that robots would b everywhere and we would be driving flying cars and live in floating houses. man they had high expectations. I can't imagine the amount of technology that we would still need to develop to make that dream a reality. For one floating houses are pretty useless and would require a ton of energy making them impractical, unless there wasn't any land anymore. Flying cars would be pretty nifty in the sense that they would eliminate the need for roads and finding a parking space. One could merely tell it to hover and whenever you were finished with what you were doing call it over to pick you up. Dang that sounds complicated. Robots are pretty much just modified slaves, in the sense that they don't have feelings which is kind of screwy. I wonder if the reliance of robots would lead to the classic movie style outcome of a rebellion. Like in AstroBoy or iRobot, or Terminator. Maybe Terminator is too weak of a comparison but I think you get the basis of the relying on technology too much will lead to societies downfall type story.

No Don't Go In There!

Oh the glorious suspenseful moment that has us on the edge of our seat, making us almost scream to not do that, or you can't trust him! This fabulous moment can go both ways, it is either a nail biting thrill ride, or a moment so dull that you can't wait for the character to die in hopes of the scene ending. This can be due to many things. A very important aspect of feeling the true emotions of the show is to let it happen. Going in with a "D*** this is dumb" attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I would know because I usually go into the new fad with a sour outlook seeing what I can critique. Granted this can be entertaining, however I tend to not do this with any program that has legitimate potential. I find that when you truly try to enjoy it, a seemingly crappy show has pulled a bit of potential out of nowhere. When you get into it you'll get a slightly different experience than others during times of suspense because of what is going through your head. All the things that could possibly happen, to whom it will happen, and if it will happen at all. Then when the moment is over, it's time to ponder what else could of happened, or what will next because of the last event. The thoughts that a show puts into anyone's head makes it a personal experience. Therefore each person has a different idea of the outcome and that is what makes these moments so special.

Foreshadowing, a Lost Art

Foreshadowing, a device once reserved for the more mature, and intelligent has devolved in order to appeal to the everyday person. This isn't the kind of reveal that absolutely blew your mind while your parents sat back and enjoyed your reaction. It has morphed into blatantly obvious developments to get consumers talking about their show on social media and spreading buzz for it. In order words it is a form a free advertising. They dangle an obvious event that is about to happen in hopes that fans will create buzz during the week before the episode airs. Movies can't really use the advertising form, but good lord have they wrecked it. I have a very hard time being surprised by movies because I always catch the hints, and the most famous plot twist movies Fight Club and The Sixth Sense were spoiled or me before I was able to view them. So called "twist" endings in any M. Night Shyamalan do not apply. For you see, those movies are full of crap. They spring up a random ending that no one saw coming because no one cares. What was the twist in signs? That Seattle would be the best city in the USA to be, when the aliens invaded because their weakness was... water? Oh wow, that blew my mind, or the village was actually just a collection of crazy Amish people in the woods. My personal favorite would be that mother earth is taking vengeance on people with a breeze that awakens plants to emit some form of hippie non-sense that made everyone kill themselves in creative ways except those who are worthy to walk the earth. His best twist was that the Last Air Bender was garbage, that shocked everyone, good job Knight!

Dark Content in Television

We've all been in this position before, just sitting on the couch watching our favorite tv show, or just flicking channels and we have an "Oh what the (insert personal choice of profanity for this given phrase)!" moment. I'm well aware that media has to go dark at times, or somewhat just plain wrong (looking at you human centipede) to be entertaining. However, it seems as though they do this for the sole purpose of creating buzz or be edgy. Some may enjoy this, but I get tired of always having a rape, or torture scene for the sake of drama. Those types of scenes are not enjoyable when you are with your family or a significant other, because they may make them down right upset or scared. Now don't get me wrong the best villain in any movie is Hannibal Lector, and yes he is a psychopath, but he does it with style. His brand of violence isn't anything like the wanton rape and destruction of those in The Clockwork Orange. This is because the director spent most of his effort working to shape and mold Lector like a fine piece of art. He didn't say "Hey, be a psycho and try to be as violent and depraved as possible. Maybe laugh in a high pitched voice and throw feces at someone, that may turn some heads", yeah no Lector wasn't Multiple Mitch. All the previous information aside, I don't care as much when this happens with movies, since they have extensive and specific warnings about the content within. Television shows spring in on you in hopes of catching you off guard.

The story of how a show runs through the spiral into darkness runs a fairly rigid course. From season 1 to the end of the series, a show must evolve to thrive, this usually means that the violence must increase as well. This goes for both the main antagonists, protagonists, and all the side characters in between. It usually goes like this. A soon to be leading role character joins a band of misfits whom are accustomed to their way of life and have already gone through their rights of passage, while our budding hero is put through the ropes. He or she will then be put through many trials, each one requires to cut off another slice of humanity. This process leads up to many small moments in which the character questions what they have done and what they have become. Although this is offset by a conflict which ends up plunging said hero further down into the depths of evil. Then they'll go too far and try to bring down the empire they created. Our favorite hero has seen many terrible things and has committed many atrocities himself.

Many so called "red shirt" minor characters are the platform for which the worst atrocities occur. Television shows have many of the same tricks, pull in a likeable or dislikeable character in for a season in order to kill them so that the plot may move on. This is in almost every show. So much so that we the audience have developed a sixth sense for it. Which is a shame because that very sense detracts from the surprise that we were supposed to feel. This is especially true when a show fallows a repetitive plot line. An enemy is found, they shake the world of the lovable gang of misfits, then the misfit take them out, creating a hole for where there is no drama to be had. What fills this hole you may ask? You guessed it another group of bad guys slightly worse then the last, and in a more brutal way. Usually one group will kidnap a family member, one will get raped, one will order a hit, one will get them in trouble with the law leading up to a final glorious showdown. After a while these plot lines seem to mold into a single season.