Probably not the news you wanted...

Rather than beating around the bush, I'll dish out the news right at the start: I will no longer be making anymore Pokémon Abridged videos.

Some of you are surprised, some of you saw this coming, some of you don't care. For those of you do, however, I'll explain why I've made this decision.

There is no way that I can make either the physical or mental sacrifice to sit down and crank out these videos during the school year. I have so much shit to deal with in terms of classes, clubs, work, and just life in general. When I'm not doing physical work, my mind is almost always distracted. More and more, it's getting harder for me to make making these videos a priority.

Although probably the even bigger reason I've decided to stop making these is that frankly, I've just lost interest. I can't spend hours slicing and re-dubbing episodes of Pokémon with the same enthusiasm that I used to have. I guess you could call it sheer boredom, or you could call it growing up. Maybe I should e-mail Little Kuriboh and ask him what keeps a married guy in his late 20's to continue making Yu-gi-oh parodies. Probably just his passion, and mine's apparently gone.

You guys have all been great, subscribing and watching my videos for roughly a year and a half. All of your comments and subscriptions have made it extremely worthwhile for me to make these as long as I did. It's really nice to get affirmation from others that I may actually have a sense of humor, however grotesque, juvenile, or just plain random it can be. I really feel like I should make one last video just thanking you guys, but sadly, technological and time constraints make even doing that pretty much impossible. I'll try to get around to that eventually.

So yeah, thanks again to all of you for sticking with me, and I'm extremely sorry to disappoint those of you who were eagerly awaiting new material. Hopefully Little Kuriboh and other abridged series creators can fill the void. But maybe I'll get an idea for an entirely different new series or whatever sometime in the future. As for now, farewell, and at the risk of being redundant, thank you all! =)

WHERE'S THE NEW EPISODE?!

Not to beat a dead horse, but I've gotten quite a few inquisitions from a lot of people lately asking me what's taking so long on the new episode. Let me assure you all that I am extremely busy. With classes and club activities, one that I'm an officer for, I have a LOT of stuff to do, and it's nearly impossible for me to find even a minute or two of free time when I can do any sort of work on Episode 15. Plus, missing about a week and a half of classes due to me having the flu has put me on catch-up mode for quite a while. Making Polkamons has not been at the top of my priorities.

Again, I do not plan to quit making my videos. But the situation is the same as last year: I don't have the free time I did over the summer. It's hard enough for me to get the work done that I have, let alone make videos. And I'm almost twice as busy this year as I was last year. Even my very occasional breaks at home are too hectic to get anything done except work.

I assure you, I have full intention of making videos as soon as I have time! In the mean time, please be patient.

Tina Fey and SNL Win Again

God, Tina Fey is flawless:



Btw, I might, I repeat, MIGHT, have time to make a new episode this weekend. MIGHT. I can't make any guarantees, but for all of you "Where's the new episode" birds out there, I feel I need to provide some form of relief for the time being.

MIGHT. That is all.

Religulous

Holy crap, I have got to see this movie:

Sick, blah

Last Sunday, I came down with a cold. Several days later, I had pounding headaches and body aches. This weekend, I talked to my dad, who thankfully is a doctor, and he told me I had the flu. I said, "Huh...that would explain why I felt like absolute shit."

This past week has been hell. Besides having the flu on the week of two exams, I have to now play catch-up this week with all the work I missed in addition to studying for two more exams.

Needless to say, all of this is kind of putting my work into making episodes on the back burner. I will gladly get working on Episode 15 when I have enough free time, but life has become frustrating and so busy that it's hard to make it a priority. But I'll provide an update when things cool down several notches.

I Love Jason Mraz!

Man, I've had this song stuck in my head forever. This guy's music just rocks!

Hmmm....

So I know I said that I should continue updating this thing on a more regular basis. However, I really have no idea what I could say that would be even remotely interesting to you guys (other than "NEW POLKAMONS" but that would be flat out lying to your faces). I mean, my life isn't exacting boring, but it's not filled with the kind of stuff that I either want to share or that you'd enjoy reading.

That being said, I will use my posts in between Polkamons updates to do what I've been kind of doing already. And that is posting random videos by other people because I think they're good.

Today's another hefty dose of common sense from Phillip DeFranco. And yes, I know that you could just as easily subscribe to him yourself and find out on your own when his videos come out. But doing this makes me feel at least somewhat important until I can crank out another video of my own:

Tina Fey = Awesome

God, the resemblance is uncanny! And these two are hilarious in this skit!

I Really Need to Update This Thing More Often

Even though I'm pressed for time and privacy making videos, I really need to make more frequent posts on here so that you all know I'm not abandoning this entirely (or at least that I'm not dead).

I just got back from a weekend trip to visit some friends at another college. Twas quite exciting, as three people I drove up with stayed in the cramped quarters of someone's dorm while I chilled at my friend's two-story house. Granted, I still had to sleep on the floor, but at least she took the liberty of vacuuming before I got there, so I didn't get terribly sick. In hindsight, I probably should have made more of an effort to find a sleeping bag or air mattress like she told me a week before I got there, but whatever.

To calm the minds of many of you reading this, I still intend to make Episode 15 whenever I get the chance. Even though I feel like a broken record for repeating this, I get the feeling that some of you are getting antsy and a lot of others might have given up on me, just as last year when my fall semester began. Fear not! I have a good amount of the script written for my take on "Battle Aboard the St. Anne." Not that I'm disclosing any info on that =P



I don't even know what to say about this. Maybe I should have a caption contest like Little Kuriboh.




And of course, this cute little guy makes its debut in this episode.








I might get some time to get some recording done around early-mid October, but I'm not promising. Which of course, means that I'll either put it out that weekend with no warning or I'll have to wait another 2-3 months. Regardless, I'm not putting a set timetable on this. Schedules tend to disappoint people when they're not met, and most of you know that I'm absolutely terrible at sticking to a strict schedule. So in other words, expect Episode 15 whenever

ISFJ FTW LOLZ

Interestingly, my computer science class required everyone to take a personality test online. Since the course projects revolve heavily on group work, my professor figured that it'd be ideal to assign partners based on compatible personalities. After taking the test, I found my results to be quite...intriguing. And of course, what better people to share my personality with than a bunch of folks on the internet whom I've never even met?

Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging

ISFJs are characterized above all by their desire to serve others, their "need to be needed." In extreme cases, this need is so strong that standard give-and-take relationships are deeply unsatisfying to them; however, most ISFJs find more than enough with which to occupy themselves within the framework of a normal life. (Since ISFJs, like all SJs, are very much bound by the prevailing social conventions, their form of "service" is likely to exclude any elements of moral or political controversy; they specialize in the local, the personal, and the practical.)


That, of course, is just a small snippet of what I'm all about. If there are any of you who actually care to read the rest of this, click the following link:

http://typelogic.com/isfj.html

And if you want to take the test yourself, click here:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

After you take the test, you can see what your 4 letters mean on http://typelogic.com and see what type of personality you have. Make your friends take it and see how accurate the results are. They make for some VERY amusing conversation!

Jon Stewart Is My F*cking Hero!

I'm not one to put many political rantings on my blog, but Jon Stewart just hits the nail on the head SO well sometimes that this is one of those things I just have to share:




These next few campaign months are going to be AWESOME! And by awesome, I mean ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE! And absolutely terrible is awesome because it gives this hilarious man and his staff more material to work with.

So Busy, So Tired

I've been running around almost non-stop since I got here. Thank God for my bike (insert Misty voice), because my classes are so spread out, and it's damn near impossible to walk from one side of campus to the other and make it on time. Plus, the exercise doesn't hurt either, since I think this summer has caused me to become grossly out of shape.

But now, I've finally gotten my schedule sorted out, and everything else is slowly falling into place. Not that I'm going to miraculously have a lot of free time soon, but at least that mental exhaustion of figuring everything out is almost completely gone now.

Yikes!

So apparently, someone hacked into my blog and posted a rather, uh...inappropriate link in a new post. Looks like I'm having a crap load of bad luck with my various online accounts. Needless to say, I deleted the aforementioned post and changed my password, so hopefully I can avoid another situation like this.

This just isn't my week... =/

Hooray for More Crap

After what seems like forever, LK has finally made a sequel to his "Cr@psule Monsters" video:



Yeah, I know it's not LK's YouTube account, but he only puts non-abridged videos on his new account, and Blogspot won't recognize the code to embed Revver videos.

Funny stuff. A bit more random humor than in the first one, but the man himself said that he wasn't as pleased with this one as he was with the first one. Although it impresses me that even his "bad" material is still pretty amusing. Plus, you got to love the Pokémon references =)

All Moved In

By the way, in case you're wondering, I'm all moved into my apartment now, classes begin tomorrow, and my life has already become chaotic. I have an on-campus job that requires 10 hours a week, an a cappella group for which I'm the music director, so composing, practice, and performances will take out another 6-7 hours a week. Classes...let's not even get started there. And of course there's always the remaining time for me to just kick back, chill out, and be a college student. Don't get me wrong; I love making these videos, but doing it non-stop for days at a time becomes exhausting (not that it'll be possible to do much recording with other people in the apartment anyway), and I am trying to have my own life, especially since I only have a few years left at this school.

So it goes without saying that all of this upcoming insanity will make it difficult for me to make any new episodes soon. I don't, however, want to put you through an entire semester or two with nothing at all. Sadly, I won't have any idea on how to overcome that for another several weeks (after I find how exactly how busy I really will be). So for now, enjoy the blog posts and my current videos, and I'll do my best to keep this going!

GOOOOOLD!

Finally! USA basketball redeems itself by winning gold in the Olympics! After being completely destroyed (by USA standards = not winning gold) in the 2002 and 2006 FIBA World Championships and the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the United States Basketball team, nicknamed the "Redeem Team" by...well, everyone, beat Spain in the Gold Medal match this past Sunday.




These Olympics were HUGE for the USA team. Not only has the US redeemed itself in terms of basketball, it also redeemed its character. In the 2006 FIBA championships, the US team was highly ridiculed for its poor temper, arrogance, and just overall poor sportsmanship. This year, the team sailed to a gold without so much as snickering at the opposing team. They proved themselves talented and respectful, and once again, USA basketball is back on top.


This gold medal is the first for Kobe Bryant, a man who despite being a veteran on the team at 29 years old, made his Olympic debut in these games, the past two games eluding him due to an injury and the highly publicized sexual assault allegations. Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Carlos Boozer, members of the 2004 Olympic team that won bronze, got the redemption they desired, as well as others like Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, who were part of a botched effort at the 2006 FIBA games. In fact, only Jason Kidd has a prior gold medal, and at 35 years old, he proved he still has some game left.


So redemption has been won, the USA is back on top, and I can breathe easy again knowing that watching USA basketball isn't cause for shame =P

Kinda Freaked Out...

Yesterday, around mid-afternoon, I logged onto YouTube just to check some of the comments on my videos. However, upon entering my info, I get a red message saying "This account has been permanently disabled." Naturally, I freaked out, so I tried searching my user name on the website and let out a huge sigh of relief once I found out that my account was still active and I was logged back in.

Then, today, something similar happened. I logged in successfully, but then when I clicked on a video, the system logged me out! I was able to log in again, but just the very unpleasant surprise of the past two days has got me a bit worried. Am I being targeted again? Will this account get deleted too? GAH!!

Of course you guys know that if my account does get deleted, I'll post information about a new account on this blog ASAP. Obviously, I'd have to rename the videos again (maybe..."Polkamans" or "Pokemoon"). I dunno, I'll figure that out when the time comes. But if this ever does happen, then I hope that those of you who read this will help spread the word to other people. I have plenty of subscribers that never read this thing, so I'll need help in letting them know about any changes I may need to make.

Episode 14

For your viewing pleasure, here's Episode 14!



A couple of notes about this episode:

1. Again, this is the first episode where I used that new microphone, so that would explain any differences in the audio quality.

2. All of the voices in the intro are my own, completely unedited.

3. If you're a basketball fan and you never had the opportunity to watch the NBA on NBC, you are extremely deprived.

4. This would likely be the last one for quite a while, as I am moving into my apartment in a few days, and I have a LOT of stuff to deal with as soon as I get there. Henceforth, starting Saturday, most of your comments, questions, requests, insults will have to go unanswered for at least a good week or so.

That being said, thanks for all your support and subscriptions! Hopefully I can get back to this after I get everything settled at school. I can't guarantee I'll be getting videos done quickly (I AM trying to have a life outside of my computer after all =P), but I am in no way planning to stop making videos entirely.

One More Week

No, not one more week until a new episode. I have one more week until I go back to school. Fortunately, I'll be in an on-campus apartment this year with just 3 other guys, all of whom know about my secret life of Polkamons. In that way, screaming "WAH WAH WAH" into a microphone will probably be slightly less awkward. However, I'd still likely have to wait until I'm alone in the apartment to do any recording, considering that I'd rather not have the constant echoes of Halo-induced "FUCK YOU, BITCH" in the background of my videos.

Which leaves me to make a point I might have neglected to mention. I finally got a microphone that works well with my current laptop, this nice little Logitech trinket:

It's got the right amount of sensitivity, although the sound is slightly more rounded than with my older microphone. Not that big of a difference in the long run, but some of you might notice a difference between the sound of Episode 14 and all my previous videos. But at least it works well, and that's really all I've been looking for.

So that's it. In a week, my life becomes hectic once again (not that I've had that much free time for most of this summer, as you can see by my recent lack of YouTube productivity). But I'll do my best to continue living up to my usual mediocrity, and if that means waiting an extra couple of weeks for me to finish an episode, so be it. Because after all...



"I go for quality, not quantity!"








I swear, I do have a life... >_>

Olympic Fever and Still No Internet

Still having internet only on the computer that I have limited access to really prevents my ability to make posts as frequently as I'd like. Between that and the Olympics, I've not been getting much work done on Episode 14 (although the script is finally completed). But I mean really...can you blame me? It's the Olympics!

Any of you guys catch the opening ceremony? Ho-ly-shit, it was amazing! Of course, China really needed this badly in order to prove itself as a formidable economic power in the years to come, but even so, the fact that they pulled off something so grand was amazing!

The ceremony consisted of everything from dancing to martial arts artwork to drumming to people in lighted costumes creating dove images on the ground. What really blew my mind was how smoothly everything went. Every single act was done with unparalleled precision and unison between literally thousands of people per performance without a single repeat performer. Transitions were flawless, the displays were brilliant, costumes were superb, and the energy of both the artists and the crowd really delivered an Olympic opening without equal.

One oddity about the Olympics that I can't really wrap my head around, however, seems to be the inclusion of seemingly random sports and events that really don't get that much publicity in any other setting. I hadn't the slightest idea that the United States had a women's fencing team until I later read that it took home the gold, silver, AND bronze in said sport. Plus, whenever I try to catch a glimpse of swimming or tennis, I always wind up on something like handball, water polo, archery, or, get this...air pistol shooting. Olympic Nerf guns? No thanks. Not to take anything away from the participants of these events, but it just seems a bit out there for me.


Of course, a lot of the excitement has been placed on swimming. USA's own Michael Phelps is going for the title of best swimmer ever by winning more Olympic medals than any other competitor. And at 23 years old and with a total of 17 events in his sport this year, I'll bet my right foot that he'll achieve that (considering that as I type this post, he only needs one more gold).





Most of my focus, however, is on the men's basketball team, nicknamed the "Redeem Team" by many after a seemingly dominant USA team failed to achieve gold in its last 3 international competitions, including the 2004 Olympics in Athens. This year will be different, says me and every expert out there. Why? Because the players are finally feeling some shame after their
terrible performances AND because this year's roster is probably more talented AND more team-oriented.


Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Dwyane Wade: 3 of the biggest stars of the team so far. Kobe sadly hasn't been at his best in the first two games versus China and Angola, but Wade and Lebron have been monsters with Wade's nearly perfect field-goal percentage and Lebron's keen passing eye, not to mention his own scoring frenzies. The team beat China 101-70 and Angola 97-76. Future games are going to be tougher since they'll be facing European teams, many with strong NBA players such as Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol, playing for Germany and Spain, respectively. Still, TEAM USA's still got the best talent, and this year, the best team effort. I see a gold on the way and redemption for "LeBronze."

Before I part, I must let you all know that I will be out of town from tomorrow, Wednesday August 13th until Sunday August 17. During said time, I will probably have zero, if not very limited, access to a computer. So expect no posts during that time and no response to your YouTube comments and/or messages.

Internet Sucks

Things have been rather strange and convoluted since my class ended last Friday. Basically, I come home for the weekend, go back up to school on Monday to move the rest of my stuff out of my apartment and get some paperwork finished for my new job at one of the on-campus gyms, and find out that the manager who I give the paperwork to gets off work at 5, so I wind up staying there overnight with no extra clothes, finally come back home the next day early afternoon, and THE DAMN ROUTER FOR THE INTERNET DOESN'T WORK! Thank you, Linksys...

I call tech support, some Eastern European girl walks me through a bunch of tests only to finally deduce that our router is broken. On the bright side, they're sending us a new one free. On the downside, it's not going to get here for another week. So my current options are to use my parents' computer- which is connected directly to the modem- when they aren't using it (like now), or to use the computer in the room next to mine by bumming a really weak and un-secure wireless connection from my next-door neighbors.

As you might be able to guess, that'll make it slightly more difficult for me to get on YouTube or my blog to do anything. Fortunately, my parents aren't using their computer for most of the day, but usually after 5 (when everyone else is online), I'm stuck. Of course I can still work on my videos, but uploading them whenever I get them finished will a bit more difficult unless this computer is available long enough to put them on YouTube (which, thanks to their somewhat recent removal of the upload progress bar, takes an unknown, but seemingly endless amount of time). Of course, that's assuming that I'll finish another video within the next week, and you know how "frequently" I crank out episodes ;)

But to put some of your minds at ease, I am indeed working on Episode 14. As to when it'll be finished, your guess is as good as mine (actually, probably not).

Spotlight Tres!

Mmhm, I told you I'd do it. Check it out:

Episode 13

There we go! Short of writing the script for this episode, I did ALL the work on this episode in one day! I'm just a bit tired, but I really wanted to get this thing out =)

Lol Little Kuriboh

Oh LK, your ability to successfully parody knows no bounds XD

In order to understand what's going on, watch this abysmal video about why the PS3 is better than the Wii and Xbox 360:




Now watch Little Kuriboh own his ass by completely mocking him:



And yes, "ninja" is a perfectly PC substitute for ni-*4 KIDS CENSORSHIP WRATH*










...sheeeeeeit

I Will Not Quit!

To provide a little update on my videos' progress...none has been made.... However, that's because I'm still in an apartment at school with a crappy laptop and crappier laptop's internal microphone. Actually, I don't even have that laptop anymore because I FINALLY gave it to the tech guys to get repaired. They said it'd be about 2-3 days to get it fixed (that was yesterday), so that means it might not be till the end of August until I get it back.

FEAR NOT! I am going home on Friday for the weekend. That means that Friday night, most of Saturday, and maybe the first part of Sunday will be mostly dedicated to recording. And once that's done, I can do the video editing from any computer.

You think I've given up? You think my days of making ridiculous videos have come to an end? HA! I laugh at your ignorance!

Holy Crap, I Like Batman Now!

Yes, I finally saw the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight." And after watching this movie, I thought to myself, "how the hell have I gone my whole life without ever getting into Batman at all?"
Without giving away any of the movie, the film was AWESOME! Of course, it was 2 1/2 hours long, but the movie is packed with so much action or suspense the entire time that you completely lose track of time. Christian Bale played a very good Batman, and I was more than pleasantly surprised to see Morgan Freeman playing a substantial role, but the one who stole the show was the late Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker. He turned the famous children's comic book bad guy into a morally twisted nut job that could very well scare the shit out of many adults. The maniacal stares, jittery swaggers, and the way he periodically swirls his tongue around his lips all helped to create one of the most truly frightening movie villains of all time.

Ledger's might have been the best acting performance, but Bale's Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal's Rachel Dawes, Freeman's Lucius Fox, Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent, and Michael Caine's Alfred Pennyworth, plus a deeper storyline that blurs the line between good and bad, all combine to create an incredibly thrilling blockbuster. Throughout the film, Batman goes through more conflicts than most typical Hollywood superheroes, including constantly challenging his own ethics and sense of morality, and debating between keeping his identity hidden or revealing himself to the world amidst a storm of public pressure to avoid letting more people die at the hands of the Joker. Batman truly earns the title of "The Dark Knight."



As someone who had never read Batman comics book and who has never seen another Batman movie in his life, this movie was amazing! It definitely lived up to the hype, and I strongly encourage those of you who haven't seen it to go see it! And if you have seen it, see it again! The story's great, the acting's superb, and Batman's gadgets and maneuvers are just sick. Go see it now!

R.I.P. Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Melon professor who became famous for his speech entitled "The Last Lecture," died from pancreatic cancer today.

Pausch's speech, as I mentioned in a previous post, was one that inspired many. His lecture was centered around achieving childhood dreams, in which he threw in various pieces of his own advise and wisdom such as overcoming metaphoric brick walls, recognizing that your critics do care, and building upon the experience you gain when you fail to get exactly what you wanted.

I discovered this man's lecture on YouTube about 8 or 9 months ago. And yet, something about his speech really stuck with me. I thought to myself, "Here's a computer science guy who, by the very definition of his profession, should either be sitting in a cubicle writing software all day or standing in front of a class saying stuff like 'P=NP.' Yet, he's so poised, he has a great outlook on life, he's humble, he's intelligent but not cocky, and he's taking his news of terminal cancer like a solider." The reason that this stuck with me is because, in the grand scheme of things, he was merely an average guy. This man wasn't a Hollywood celebrity, a professional singer, or a Broadway actor. He was just a teacher who found out he had cancer and gave a speech.

That is what's so amazing. The fact that an average nobody can find out he only has about a year to live, yet hold his head up high and spend some of his last months pouring out such profound messages from the story of his life just gives me so much hope. Randy Pausch was everything I hope to be in career, poise, personality, and wisdom. I recognized that the first time I saw his videos, including his "Last Lecture" speech and his appeal to Congress to increase funding for pancreatic cancer research. It was such a breath of fresh air to know that a normal guy could affect so many people in an extraordinary way.

Don't get me wrong: I do NOT think that Randy Pausch was an average human being. He had an average job with an average income and an average lifestyle. But he had a superhuman will and strength about him that allowed to accept his condition and use that to better himself, his family, other cancer victims, and whomever would listen to him talk. As the man himself put it, "You can't change the cards you are dealt, just how you play the hand." Pausch played it marvelously, and the world will remember him for doing so.




Rest In Peace, Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) . You were a tremendous man, a wonderful spirit, and an inspiration for us all.

I'm An Idiot >_<

So I completely didn't realize that there was an option to allow anyone to comment on this blog. That has now been fixed! Now, anyone can comment without needing an account on Blogger, LiveJournal, AIM or whatnot!

Polkamons News

I figured I should dedicate at least one post solely to news on my Polkamons videos, seeing as that's why the majority of you actually read this blog.

Episode 13: Mystery at the Lighthouse

- The script for this has been written out for a little while, but I've been making adjustments here and there. Since I'm currently not at my good computer (i.e., my good microphone that won't work on my crappy Vista laptop), I'll have to wait until mid August when I'm back home to record the lines. Don't you worry, though, I'm dead-set on finishing this one. This was actually the first episode of Pokémon I ever saw as a kid (imagine a 9-year old me walking around Blockbuster and seeing this video. I thought to myself, "Well, I play the game. I might as well watch the show.") You can imagine how things turned out after that.

Episode 14: Electric Shock Showdown

- The script's not written, but I've been jotting down random ideas for this one. I actually have 45 seconds of video finished for this episode, strangely enough. But that will be explained once the episode is released; I don't want to spoil anything for you after all!







Polkamon Spotlight 3:


Yes, it's being done. Yes, I have the script written out. Yes, I plan on recording the lines once I get home. And no, I'm not disclosing what Pokémon it is. I AM, however, fully expecting that a lot of you will enjoy it. After watching this spotlight, I assure you that most of you will experience a large number of "omg, that's so true," "oh geez, I hate that!" and/or "I've always wondered about that!" And that's my full intention!
By the way, feel free to comment on this thing! You don't need a Blogspot account. However, if you don't have that, then you'd need to enter your LiveJournal user name or AIM screen name. Don't worry, I won't stalk you ;) But I know for a fact that there are a substantial number of people visiting this blog every day. So comment, and make me feel loved!

Still Experimenting

If you ever see some odd changes to my blog's background, template, font, color, or whatever at any time, then that would be me constantly experimenting with Blogspot, html, and Photoshop trying to make my blog look better. I think the solid black background's kind of bland, don't you?

God I'm Such A Nerd XD

So I actually decided to make an audition video for that Yu-gi-oh Fandub. As much as I prefer Yu-gi-oh Abridged over the real thing, getting part in this would be a good opportunity to become a better voice actor.



Obviously, my vocal range and tones aren't nearly as varied as Little Kuriboh's, but that's why I want to get better. =D Aside from becoming a graphic designer or animator, I've always held some small hope that I'd be able to do some voice acting in my lifetime. That's part of the reason why Pixar seems so perfect. From what I've read in the book of the company's history, several voices for their movies have come from the animators whose voices on their character demo reels impressed the directors. See? You DON'T have to be a celebrity to make it in this biz!

In Polkamons related news, I won't start recording until I'm back home at my XP computer with the much better microphone (which will be at least another 2 weeks I'm afraid =/). This Yu-gi-oh thing was done on the fly, and I'd rather have a much better audio quality for the videos I actually put some effort into! But fear not, I have the script written out, so once I'm back, I can just go at it!

Photoshop'd Banners

I just recently downloaded Photoshop, so like many first-time users, I was completely lost at my first go. Unfortunately, most college students my age have at least fooled around with Photoshop and have enough experience in the program to at least get by. Needless to say, being one who's career goals include becoming a graphic designer or animator, I was pretty dead-set on learning how to use this dang-blasted piece of software ASAP.





Look at that! After using Paint and Powerpoint for all these years, can you imagine how confused I was when I first saw this confusing interface?


Fortunately, I talked to a couple of friends and studied the program enough to pick up a few things. Notice the banners on this blog that periodically change? That's me doing a little experimentation with text effects =)

If I can master Adobe's confusing monstrosities, then one day I can design movies that look like this! Pixar, here I come, baby!

Yu-gi-oh! Fandub Project

So it looks like there's a project under development to create a complete fandub on the Yu-gi-oh! series. Contrary to many's original thoughts, including my own, auditions for this are supposed to be serious and NOT parodying the show in any way. However, Little Kuriboh is taking part in the dub as Grandpa Mutou, so that's pretty sick.

Yu-gi-oh Casting Call:



Little Kuriboh's monologue in Abridged voices (which he used to audition):




My question here is...do I audition? I earlier submitted my Little Kuriboh tribute video in which I mimic a few Yu-gi-Oh abridged characters, but given the seriousness of this project, I may rethink my strategy.

Little Kuriboh Tribute:



However, I don't want this to take up too much time, so I'd figured I'd try auditioning for a more minor character. Maybe Dark Bakura or the Paradox Brothers? Rex or Weevil? Who knows? But if I can work out the kinks in my computer's mic, I might as give it a shot! Working with Little Kuriboh would be pretty cool anyway!

Incredibly Inspirational

By the way, I think those of you who have not seen this video should watch this as soon as you get the time:



This man, Randy Pausch, is a professor of computer science at Carnegie Melon University, a very prestigious school. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer shortly before he gave this lecture, and he uses this lecture to advise people on how to achieve their childhood dreams. Such an inspirational video, this man combines various anecdotes from his life in a funny, interesting and profound manner, and it's incredibly useful for everybody.

I can't really put into words how great this is. I've probably watched it about 5-6 times since I first found it several months ago. Maybe I'm partially biased because this man, in career, personality, and goals, either reminds me of myself or is what I aspire to be. But still, if you're not even remotely touched or affected by this video, you have no soul.

After you watch this, check out his website and consider donating money for pancreatic cancer research.

Randy Pausch's Website

Summer Just Got Great!

Much to my delight, this summer away from home for a month is just what I needed! My Spanish class is going extremely well (mostly because a lot of it is review and I'm apparently better at the language than I remember), the campus is so much nicer to drive on since it's less crowded, I have the liberty to eat anywhere for lunch (though I split it between cooking chicken sandwiches in my apartment and going to Chipotle), and I get in a solid 2 or so hours of basketball almost every night with a few friends. In short, life is good, because I'm having fun, and I'm not sitting around back home like a worthless sack of dung waiting for something to do.



A little of this almost every other day is bound to either kill you or make your bathroom stink like crazy. But it's soooooooooooo good!

One of the best parts as of late is that I finally got internet in this apartment, so I have more time to waste on YouTube and downloading ROMS of old games forgotten. Can you say reliving the good ol' days with GOLDEN SUN?! Good god, that game and its sequel "The Lost Age" have got to be two of THE best games created EVER! Not like I couldn't do that back home, but somehow, the fact that my life has gotten so much better within only the past few days has made playing video games so much more enjoyable. Although I have to concede that a lot of what inspired me to get back into playing these games is seeing my friend Boltage McGammar do his "Let's Play" videos on Golden Sun (been completed for a while) and Golden Sun: The Lost Age (currently going on).



Pure entertainment genius











If you don't know Bolt, he does a lot of "Let's Play" videos for various games on his YouTube Account. I feel obliged to throw in this little plug for Bolt partially cuz I kind of know him personally (online, but for at least a few years), and because he did the voice of Koffing in Episodes 2 and 3 and the Samurai in Episode 4 of Polkamons. So yeah, little favor in return.

Speaking of which, in case you're wondering (which I'm SURE you are), I can't spend any time recording lines for my videos, because this laptop's internal mic, as well as any other mic I've tried using on this, have all been terrible. This is why I need the money for that Mac. Hopefully those disorganized nut jobs at the school bookstore will call me back soon about the job. I could technically clean out whatever I have right now on the new computer, but leaving myself with absolutely no money at a college campus is probably the dumbest thing I could do at this point.


On a completely different note, Little Kuriboh put out a little 2nd year anniversary video of Yu-gi-oh Abridged on YouTube. He claims this was a rush job, but it's still rather amusing:




To end my string of random tangents, I randomly came across something else on YouTube (in case you haven't realized, I tend to spend a LOT of time on YouTube) that brought back so many fond memories. Remember 90's Nickelodeon? You know, Doug, Hey Arnold, Rocko's Modern Life, and all that good stuff? Someone who apparently also had too much free time put together a compilation of a bunch of old school Nick intros, and I spent those 10 minutes oh so fondly reminiscing. Although I could do without Ren and Stimpy. That show was just stupid and kind of freaked me out.



So yeah, life's pretty good now =)

Double Abridged Releases (or like... 1 1/2)

Since I'm a selfish bastard, I'll start with my news first: I finally finished and uploaded Polkamons 12! Check it out!



And in other news that people probably care a LOT more about, Yu-gi-oh Abridged episode 30 is up! Though for some reason, this stupid html box isn't embedding the video properly, so here's the link:

Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged: Episode 30

I've jumped another Squirtle Hurdle

All of my lines have been recorded and edited, so all that's left is to put the audio to the video. Unfortunately, the video editing is the longest part of the whole process, but I'll do what I can to get this damn video out soon!












The Squirtle Squad and the original green Power Ranger were probably the bad-ass T.V. icons of my childhood. Oh, what fond memories =)

I'm Lazy

Because it's 3:40 AM right now, and I'm therefore feeling a bit lazy, but still obligated to make a blog post (having not make one in about a week-ish), I'll make my own input short while including material from other people, giving them credit of course.

For those of you who have a YouTube account but do now know who Phillip DeFranco (username sxephil), I recommend you subscribe to his channel NOW! He's one of few people that use the internet regularly but actually have a lick of common sense. DeFranco's videos are pretty much video blogs, or something similar, in which he relays his life stories and infuses his opinions into news stories. One of the more recent stories involes Viacom forcing YouTube to relinquish records of all YouTube users, information that was always kept private. See for yourself below:



To me, privacy always seemed like one of those rights that everyone's just inherently entitled to. However, I admittedly had a hard time actually explaining why to anyone, including myself. So what does a person with such a deep, philosophical question do to find the answer? Google it. Through Googling "Why is privacy so important," I came across this article, or whatever you want to call it, that effectively answers these questions through sheer logic and common sense:

Link: http://www.thelighthouseonline.com/messages/archives/2002/10/why_is_privacy.html

Why is Privacy So Important?

The right to privacy is one of the basic human rights that the founders of the United States said that we are all granted, not by our government, but by the very fact of being human.

Yet there has been increasing focus in the press and on the Internet lately on blatant privacy violations, such as with spyware programs that make a record of every file you download (Netscape is one of these companies; see http://grc.com/downloaders.htm), or every Internet page you view.

Many of you may say to yourself, "So what? Who cares what files I download, or what pages I view? I have nothing to hide." And yes, in an ideal world, we wouldn't need to worry.

I admit that I used to think that way too. My thinking went something along these lines: Yes, companies are "harvesting" data about people, the better to market products to them. But so what? Marketing is worthless if the people being marketed to are thinking and aware human beings who do not allow themselves to be manipulated.

However, there was something nagging me: Why did our founders feel that privacy was so important?

I was thinking about it again today, and realized that the true evil of privacy invasions is this: What happens if someone decides that they don't like your particular lifestyle, beliefs, or preferences, and chooses to, at best, personally campaign against it, and at worst, outlaw it entirely?

The Minority Doesn't Rule

Many heinous laws that infringe on people's rights have been justified in the past because the claim was made that "only a few people" or "only a minority" would be affected by that law. In some cases, that "minority" has risen up and proven that they were a majority. Or, enough people who did not belong to that "small group" have seen the writing on the wall and have spoken out against that kind of repression.

Central databanks that contain all kinds of personal information about each of us only make this kind of repression easier. How easy it would be to find out how many people actually do pursue some activity or belong to some group. Then one would know how large (or small) the opposition would be. In an ideal world, we could rely on everyone to speak up against repression, suppression, prejudice, and other such fascist or socialist "Big Brother" activities, and someone trying to enforce their own personal standards on everyone would be politely listened to, but their beliefs would not be acted upon.

The Real versus the Ideal

Sadly, however, we do not live in an ideal world. We live in a world populated by imperfect human beings, many of whom are struggling to do the best they can despite the damage done to them in their childhood, damage that sometimes manifests as a desire to make everyone "do the right thing," where "the right thing" means "do as I say." Such people pursue their goals without realizing that "the right thing" is in many cases a personal decision and not a global one. It doesn't help that this kind of person often "just knows" that they are right.

For many of these people, if you do not think like them, you are wrong. "Okay," you may think, "so what? Let them think what they like." And I agree, to a point. Let anyone think what they like. The "so what" is that they feel they have the right to impose upon you their standards of what is right or wrong, and they will pursue you or harass you or try to stop you (and everyone like you). This is where the statement, "Your right to swing your fist ends where my face beings" comes in. They have the right to their opinions, but they do not have the right to try to make others live as they do. As long as a person is doing no harm to others, let them think and do as they like.

For example, even though I am not gay, I would not presume to tell someone who is that they are not doing the right thing. (And one of my cousins, whom I like very much, might have a problem with me if I had that attitude.) Yet there are those who would want to judge that orientation and even make it a crime.

I am also not black, but I would not presume to tell a black person that there was anything less than acceptable about being black. (And another cousin's husband, whom I also like very much, might object if I had that attitude, too!) Yet there are some, even today, who think that being black is an offense that is punishable by death.

And although I am not Jewish, I certainly wouldn't try to keep others from practicing that very ancient religion. (My Jewish grandfather, Nathan Michaels, would rise up from his grave and haunt me if I did!)

It may seem to you that in today's "enlightened" society, we would never have a problem with blacks or gays or Jews and any other group of people being rounded up and put in internment camps. And it may even seem that to even suggest such a thought happening in today's society is impossible. Think again. Take a look at the problems caused by unethical people in high places in corporations, or at remarks made by a Million Mom marcher who is said to have been quoted in the Washington Post as saying effect that Hitler and Stalin didn't disarm citizens, only Jews, Gypsies, gays, unionists and other "undesirables."

Coercive Collectivists

Or take a look at some of your neighbors, especially if you live in California. Most people who call themselves liberals are actually what one Web site calls "coercive collectivists." Coercive collectivists "advocate state power over individuals and believe in ...the sanctity of the Crowd and the villainy of the single person."

Without making this essay too lengthy, my point is that some people (the coercive collectivists) do not respect the individual or the right of the individual to live his or her life freely and without control or harassment. This is why our privacy is so important--not because we have anything to hide, but because we need to protect ourselves against those who would wish to coerce us. Many of these people work in marketing; others work for radio or television, and some, Good God, like television executive Jamie Kellner, even think they own us.

One gem from Jamie's own mouth about people skipping ads on television:

"It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming."

(Yes, he said in response to the interviewer, even if you take a bathroom break--he grudgingly allows them, but you are not allowed to go overboard). Excuse me? What contract? And how is it that the television networks think that accepting money for advertisements, which essentially means that they are selling their audience--that's you and me, folks--also means that the thus-sold audience is required to watch those advertisements? And does this extend into other media? Am I committing a crime when I skip the advertisements in a newspaper or magazine? How about when I throw a catalog--one giant advertising circular--into the recycling bin? Is my pop-up ad blocker in my firewall committing a crime? I think not. Jamie Kellner has obviously lived in the rarified air of power without moral or ethical accountability for so long that he is suffering from oxygen starvation. (For a few more choice excerpts from his interview, check out http://scriban.com/movabletype_archives/000289.shtml .)

Although many of these people seem far away, some of them also live near you, and work toward limiting your freedoms in the name of some "feel good" cause or other. Because such people exist, it is important for us to protect our freedoms by doing four things:

1. Educate yourself and think through any cause before supporting or opposing it.
2. Educate those who would restrict our freedoms. There are many who are just following the crowd and who haven't really thought things through. Help them to learn to think and not just react.
3. Speak up when someone tries to limit anyone's freedoms: Write to your legislators, speak with your neighbors and friends, send email, post Web pages. Boycott products and companies that invade your privacy.
4. Allow people in your life the freedoms they are entitled to.

Related Links

http://www.stentorian.com/2ndamend/leaflets/timeout.html Strongly worded, but short and to the point.

http://www.guncontrolnetwork.org/untruths.htm. (While researching this article to verify the accuracy of my quotations, I came across this gem of a page; mind you, the page is at a parody Web site, so the title, "Untruths from the Opposition," should be taken to mean that, in fact, the Web site authors fully approve of and agree with the statements made on this page:)

I've Been Mac Attacked

Lately, I've been becoming more enthralled by Macs. In short, I WANT ONE!! Unfortunately, I NEED MONEY!! My Dell laptop with Vista has not been living up to even my most mediocre expectations. It runs slowly, the security alerts are as annoying as hell, any anti-virus programs slow it down even more, many features on programs I use very efficiently on XP are now downgraded or gone completely with Vista, audio recording quality is completely terrible....I could go on, but I won't. In fact, I think the inclusion of Chess Titans is the only thing I like about Vista over XP. That being said, as soon as I get enough money, this nice little beauty will be mine! No, this is not truly an impulse buy. I've researched it thoroughly enough, and I figure that this will actually be of solid use for me:

1. Garageband's a nice included program, but Apple's Logic music software is really nice for music recording, editing, and mixing. I'm quite an amateur at this stuff, but even I've been realizing the limitations of Audacity. Though it's nice for a free download, I'll be needing a better music program to let me do pitch corrections, especially in real-time, and other more polished reverb and echo effects. I figure that since I'm the music director of an a cappella group at my school, and I like recording random things in my spare time, Logic Express would be a great place to start. What's better than "WAH WAH WAH WAH" in stereo?! Actually, don't answer that...




2. Do I or do I not make those silly Pokémon parody videos? Do I or do I not plan to continue making these videos until it seriously impairs my ability to land myself either a girlfriend or a decent career? The answer to both of these questions is 'I do.' And while iMovie is a rather basic program, I can get a student discount on Final Cut Express. This nice piece of software has almost all the features of many top notch Windows programs at probably half or even a third of the price. Nicer video effects, multi-tracking video clips, LOTS of different audio tracks, easy interface, smooth playback of different video file types on a single time line. Maybe I'm a complete n00b at video editing (actually I definitely am), but I know enough to realize that this will be one of the better deals I come across.


Now, the hard part. Getting the money. Fortunately, my going back to school for a month of summer class means that I have ample opportunity to find an on-campus job. Decent pay, flexible hours, and since I'm only taking one class, I definitely have the time. I could technically buy the iMac right now, but I'd rather not clean out everything I have saved up. There's not much worse than being a completely broke college student. Hopefully this will be mine by the time the fall semester rolls around. A semester of fun classes AND the opportunity to make videos and music in my room? I can't wait!






Aw...give PC a hug, Mac. Daddy Gates obviously doesn't love him, or else he wouldn't suck.








__________________________________________________________________

EDIT:

That being said, Episode 12 is still undergoing delays. I've been recovering from another slight allergy/cold spell from the past few days, and a sore throat coupled with a cold really affects my ability to kick my voice into falsetto-Ash mode, or rather any voice for that matter. I'd rather wait until I'm healthy and make my voice-acting at least somewhat believable and not congested =P I'm also going to Florida from Thursday until Sunday, so that's completely out. I have no idea what my schedule will be like once I go back to school mid-July. Undoubtedly I'll have some free time, but I won't know when and how much until I get used to my class, find a job, and gauge how long español homework will take me every night. We'll see how it goes, and I'll keep you updated!

It's over...ONE-THOUSAND

Well, well, I've reached the 1,000 subscriber mark! I guess that's pretty good for an abridged series without the series' actual title in the name of any of the videos (or anywhere in my channel at all for that matter). But yeah, I'm actually pretty happy about that. Thanks to all who watch my videos!! =) =)

Although if any of you reading this don't know what I'm talking about, click on my YouTube link in the sidebar or check out this video below of one of my favorite episodes:

Summer Suckage Subsides with Summer School Session

Polkamons News:

Episode 12 has been written, but I'm struggling to find the time or means to record lines and do the video work. With any luck, it'll be done before the summer ends, but things may not be looking as promising as I thought. Read below for information on my life's happenings that may give you some insight on the cause of this delay:

____________________________________________________________________


So to put this in the simplest terms possible, my summer has sucked balls so far. I applied for about 8-9 jobs, but this damn economy has limited my options to nothing but going back to the movie theater where I worked last summer.

For anyone who is unfamiliar, working at the movie theater is being paid barely over minimum wage to serve food to, and clean up after, the epitome of obese America. I just can't comprehend how some people can stand in a concession line for 15 minutes straight debating against oneself on the best combination of nachos, hot dogs, pizza, pretzels, large popcorn extra butter, and a large DIET Coke. Thank you sir, that'll be 185 dollars. And let's not forget the roughly 20% of people who throw their still full Cherry Cokes into the trash at the end of the movie, or leave their crap in the seats and cup holders for the employees to pick up. People, come on. You already wasted your health and money buying this overpriced garbage. At least burn off three of those popcorn kernels by picking up your own trash! Oh well, at least every 9-hour shift I work provides me with an extra $45 towards buying myself a Mac. Joy.

Which is largely why I'm planning to head back to school early to take a summer class. I know, right? Summer school at will? What's wrong with you? What's wrong with me is that I've had a remarkably boring AND frustrating summer, and I need to get away. The campus is really beautiful, especially during the summer with not many people there. Fortunately, some of my friends are also taking summer classes, and I'll be rooming with two of them in an apartment close to where my freshman year dorm is. I'll also get the chance to take a Spanish class that'd I otherwise have to wait a year to enroll in. Voy a ser un mexicano muy pronto! I've been told I look Mexican before...

What's more, the school is always looking for students to work over the summer. The bookstore, the gym, the music hall, I'm almost guaranteed any decently paying job that doesn't involve spending all waking hours popping popcorn (believe me, you'd hate it too rather quickly). So yeah, spending the rest of my summer with friends, a campus full of stuff to do with no crowds, nearly definite employment, Español, and a bit of solitude and space to clear my head? If this plan doesn't bomb at the last minute, I'm set!

We'll Have a Gay Old Time?

So I just finished watching an episode of "30 Days" on same-sex marriage. To be as concise as possible, a housewife and mother of two kids who is opposed to gay marriage and gay adoption rights spends 30 days in the home of two gay men and their four adopted children. Because I have an absolutely terrible short-term memory, let's called this woman Sheila, and the gay couple Tom and Dennis (though I believe those are actually the men's names. At least Tom is right, I know). Naturally, Sheila is outside of her comfort zone, and ideally, Tom and Dennis and Sheila would have a chance to understand each other better and they would all leave enlightened by the end of the month. In a normal episode of this show, that would usually happen. Not this time.

Like many who oppose gay marriage, Sheila's opposition is rooted in religious beliefs. Tom and Dennis spend the month trying through numerous ways to convince her that gay parents are capable of being just as successful parents as straight parents. The children are overall very happy and healthy, the parents love the kids and each other, the house is well-maintained, they live in a safe neighborhood, and they have a dog. Sheila even begins to admit that she respects what Tom and Dennis are doing and that love, support, guidance, good values, and appropriate rules (qualities that she feels are important to the structure of a family) are all being implemented very successfully. Tom and Dennis feel they're making progress.

One day, Sheila meets with two adults who were foster children for their entire lives. The two explain their childhoods to Sheila, how one of them slept in her shoes and coat because of being moved from home to home on a frequent basis, how the other grew up in one of the most dangerous urban neighborhoods in the city, during which time his mother was shot and after which one of the houses he grew up in was firebombed. Both of them assure that gay couple or straight, foster children need homes. Any stable home and family is better than having to live in fear for at least the first 18 years of your life. Sheila is moved to tears.


Another day, Sheila meets with a gay rights advocacy group called C.A.R.E. and speaks with one lesbian (let's call her Sarah) who shares her story about how her partner, with whom she had a child, decided to kick her out of the baby's life. Since Sarah's child was technically her partner's biological child, and not her own, Sarah did not have any custody rights over the child, and the child who knew Sarah as his own mother never saw her again. Because Sarah and her partner were not legally allowed to marry, Sarah lost her child, her child lost one of her parents, and Sarah's partner got away with something horrible. And is it at this point in the episode where I start to acquire the desire to rip Sheila's head from her body and feed it to a pack of wolves. After hearing Sarah's story, Sheila exclaims, "I feel so sorry for you! That story breaks my heart! But you know, you could have avoided this situation if you just decided to not have a child in the first place and raise it in a lesbian sort of environment."

I will admit that when I was younger, I was uneasy about the prospect of two men or two women getting married, more or less having children. It has nothing to do with religious beliefs, but more to do with the fact that gay people in the media are usually portrayed as floaty, bubbly sex-puppets or buzz-cut brawns who build houses and growl at people (which is funnily enough just like straight people if you switch the genders). However, I grew up. I met gay people, some of them floaty, and others who were a thousand times more intelligent than me and every bit as responsible and hard-working. While I can never see myself engaging in raunchy activities with someone of the same sex, I couldn't give a crap if other people did it, as long as it was behind closed doors =P

And here's where I don't understand Sheila one bit. Although she claims to admit that she can see gay people being responsible parents, how she can see that a gay household would be better than living in increasingly crowded foster care where your house is likely to be bombed, she still opposes gay marriage and gay adoption. Why? Her religious beliefs. At numerous times during the show, Sheila either insinuated or flat-out said that her anti-homosexual religious beliefs are "in [her] heart, the right beliefs" and "a gut feeling." Her religion and her gut tell her that homosexuality is a sin, that gay marriage is a sin, despite the overwhelming evidence that gays CAN raise kids, and that with the overwhelming number of foster kids, that gays NEED to raise kids. Countless times, Sheila confronted a group of gay couples stating "my beliefs tell me that gay marriage is wrong," and when questioned "why do you feel so strongly about that" or "how do you know your belief is right against all other beliefs," she storms away, offended and insisting that everybody 'attacked her.' This same woman speaks to Dennis and Tom the next day, when Dennis calmly says to Sheila, "I like you, and I respect your right to disagree. But your disagreement, when put into action by voting against gay marriage, infringes on my right to raise a family and could potentially aid in the effort to break up the families of gay couples everywhere. If you vote to tear our lives apart, we can't be friends." Her response: "But your vote FOR gay marriage infringes on my beliefs, so I have a right to vote against you" and "I don't know why you take this so personally."

There was some segments in this episode in which several people oppose gay marriage for non-religious reasons. In one segment, a woman who was raised by a gay father describes the perils of having a dad who was sexually open to a frightening degree. He would bring home partners and calmly discuss very inappropriate sexual activity at the dinner table. This man also brought his daughter to sex shops and tried to make her feel very open and free about sex. Understandably, this left some pretty deep emotional scars, and she suppressed her emotions for most of her life. Her traumatic childhood has led her to become opposed to gay marriage and gay couples raising children. A man in a different segment pointed out some statistics about how homosexuals are generally more AIDS and HIV-infested and how gay men and women are more sexually promiscuous, either in public or in private.

My thoughts on the episode? I was sincerely hoping that 30 days in a stable, gay family would change her views. I was highly disappointed. Her views on gay marriage "infringing on her beliefs" is absolutely bullshit in my opinion. Yes, I believe in the right to respectfully disagree on certain issues. However, I would hope that ideally this disagreement would stop at something like what kind of tax system to implement or whether or not universal health care is necessary. I draw the line when it's a battle of I-want-to-marry-someone-I-love-and-have-a-family versus Gays-are-icky-and-make-me-uncomfortable. The woman has nothing to lose besides irrationally worrying that gays are going to start roaming the streets f***ing 24/7 and that God will burn the Earth down to the ground for letting gays marry.

Which brings me to my next point: the religious argument. I do NOT want to trash any body's religion, but the Bible probably has thousands of interpretations all across the world, and even this country. There are die-hard Christians who claim that the Bible is not against homosexuality, or that the Bible is a 2000-plus year old collection of scripts that needed to be interpreted appropriately to a society that has made evolutions in science and civil rights. For this woman to have the gall to claim that her view is undoubtedly the right one just because she believes it so strongly isn't holy or godly. It's stubborn and arrogant. What does religion do? It teaches people to be moral citizens. It teaches respect for thy neighbor. It teaches how to give, how to thank, and how to live virtuously. Does this woman really think that Jesus Christ would advocate such hatred or even disrespect for a group of people who's only sin is trying to marry the one they truly love? I personally don't see Jesus marching a protest line holding a sign that says "God Hates Fags." From what I've heard of the man, it seems to contradict the very morals of love and peace that he stands for.

This country isn't a theocracy. It's a democracy which is just populated by a high percentage of Christians who oppose gay marriage. According to Christianity, I'm going to hell. I'm agnostic and don't accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I am therefore a sinner. Should I be barred from marriage? What about my Muslim friends? Leave religious reasons out of the voting process. Be responsible. Carefully ask yourself, "Am I voting this way because the other option just makes me a tad uncomfortable, or will my vote genuinely impact the safety, security, and well-being of my family and the country as a whole?" Yes, the stats say that sexual promiscuity is more common among homosexuals. The stats also say that black people commit more gun-murders than other races. Some stats also say that white men rape women more than black people do. Do we bar black people from owning guns and chop off every white man's penis? Of course not! Also, look at it this way: marriage is an institution of a monogamous relationship. The two partners are expected to love each other, care for each other, and remain faithful. What do you think a relationship like that would do to the stats? My best guess is that this "sexual promiscuity" will start to decrease. Treat gays like common citizens, and many of them will act like common citizens. Treat them like second-class sex animals, and many of them will act like second-class sex animals.

The bottom line is that being gay does not necessarily affect a person's ability to form a loving relationship and raise a good family. There will be gay families that fail at doing that, much like there are straight families who fail. The solution is not to discriminate based on sexual orientation. Instead, we let people marry who they want and hold everyone to the same standards. Punish those who abuse or neglect their kids. Reward those who love their kids. Our society needs to look beyond the "icky" factor caused by either the media or religion. If your religion says don't marry your own sex, then don't do it. But learn to accept people for who they are and don't use your religion or discomfort to deprive potential parents to give either their own kids or destitute foster kids a chance for a better life.

God does NOT hate "fags." That's my two cents.