Thursday 29 August 2013

In honor of a Man With Great Honor.



Bill Watterson is the man who gave us Calvin and Hobbes, 1/2 of the greatest duo that ever graced newspaper's comics pages. The other being Gary Larson aka The Far Side. Don't know what a newspaper is? Ask your parents, but for a time they were well-respected and read by kids of all ages, mostly for their comics page (and for me, the sports stats page).  I haven't read a newspaper-based comic in over a decade as the last i read them it seemed targeted towards people that either a) could not yet read or b) thought knock-knock jokes were too controversial.   

Watterson retired his way and he is the primary reason why toy markets are not flooded with Calvin and Hobbes toys/merchandise/junk.  He's the anti-Jim Davis. He wanted to go out on top and he did. Maybe one day Calvin and Hobbes will come back, but maybe not. Either way we should find peace with that.  


128. BILL WATTERSON: A cartoonist’s advice

This was grabbed off this website; http://zenpencils.com/comic/128-bill-watterson-a-cartoonists-advice which in itself looks to be a great and interesting person trying to live his dream in the changing digital world. The words are Bill Watterson's, the artwork is by Gavin Than which you can see is heavily influenced by Calvin and Hobbes. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Friday 23 August 2013

Philosophical Bloggin' about the 3rd Manning

These Mannings are also America's greatest threats to national defenses
but the got SuperBowl rings and their own commercials. Go figure.
"When the government is throwing sources in jail for 35 years for leaking information, the media should be compelled to stand up and say, "No, that is not okay. No, that is not justice. No, that is not a fair use of government power. No, that is not an acceptable precedent in a free society."

That's from an article on gawker.com discussing the Bradley/Chelsea Manning treason trial and mass media's reaction to the sentencing. For a media outlet to condone the sentencing of a man who broke one of the biggest stories of the decade is an affront to the glory days of journalism, when your source was the only thing you trusted. 


There's Public Enemy #1 of America, right there in the middle.
The military judge of this farce (Colonel Denise Lind) came to the conclusion, on behalf of a different America than what he imagine, that for a 21 year old to release classified documents to an internet-based news source that exposes the hypocrisy of a country built on truth, freedom and alleged moral superiority is deserving of 35 years jail time; people who have actually murdered people have gotten less


This is apparently the only google image of the presiding judge, the head of
Colonel Lind, as drawn by courtroom artist and 10th grade student D. VanPoolen
It's slow on the NHL front and I've been finding my time stretched between more fatherly observations and duties as I've welcomed my third progeny into this world. I have found this Manning case, as well as the trials of Edward Snowden to be a captivating comment on today's society of being the neighbour of the New American Empire that I can do nothing about but wish to add my teaspoon of opinion into the ocean of internet comments. To ensure my Canadian authenticity, I've spelled neighbour the correct way. 

It makes me wonder of the type of world I want my children to grow up in; I want them to have leaders that follow the same basic ideal and morals that I have. It would be the greatest feat of the most powerful political figure in the world, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize, to grant a Presidential Pardon to Manning; the kid deserves it. And to do it now, while he is in office instead of waiting for his last days to grant pardons. While there have been increasing pressure from everywhere but America's 'most trusted news sources' to bring charges to and wholesale changes to the financial district's biggest companies and their ethical misdeeds that have ruined the country more than Manning, Snowden have but in the this America, the news sources are in overdrive providing us with other information that isn't necessarily as important but nonetheless depressing; like the continuing disparity between rich and poor or how money talks more prominently than it should

I don't care if Manning's gay, transsexual or has been classified as a traitor by those who feel he had a greater duty to his country than to humanity, that kid is someone his parents should be proud of. He and Edward Snowden have become the new Robin Hoods of the Digital Age, heroes for people who believe in the greater good, who believe that America needs to practice what it preaches. 

Stood up for American Ideals; jailed for American Ideas.
The question I have is to create a larger-encompassing subject blog or stick with my 90% NHL/10% Dad/ 2% other ratio that I have going on now. I do enjoy writing the fun stuff but as the saying goes;

You can't have the sweet without the sour...

Thursday 15 August 2013

Every Man/Dad's Ultimate Birthday Wish List.

You say it's your birthday?

Let's face the selfish facts. Only you know what you truly want for your birthday. Perhaps you are tired of getting another new 'collectable action figure' from a series you never really cared for but someone thought you did because that certain someone was into The Avengers and so thought you were too (thanks, sis).

All you want is something that rings of your unique personality, maybe something more than just a six pack of craft-brewed beer. And that special football jersey you got last year? The one of that team that you don't really care that much about? The one with the name of that player that now plays somewhere else?  Let's not talk about that.

Instead, why not just give them this list of some awesome gifts inspired by pop culture which are not actually useless? I'm not talking about all the cheap toys made in China, labelled 'collector's item' and then marked up 1000%. I'm writing about those products that have broken the fifth wall of realism, props that were made real in a fictional universe then thanks to a ripple in space-time, became meta in this universe, products that could be used in everyday life that non-fans might not glance twice at but those in the know will bow at your presence when you appear sporting one of these fine bits of retro pop culture history.

TL;DR; The Ultimate Guy Birthday Wish List for gifts that are practical, somewhat subtle and unique. Nothing made of plastic or wasn't originally at first a prop on a movie/TV show before it was moved into mass productions because someone found out someone like you would buy it.

Slapshot-Charlestown-Chiefs-Replica-Away-Jersey-N1243_XL
Also blood resistant for laundry days.
1) The Charlestown Chiefs Hockey Sweater

Saturday 10 August 2013

Canada's Olympic Team Preview


Each limited edition ring only cost $1.7 million tax dollars.

We take this break from ignoring the CFL to spend 15 minutes on national sports shows to discuss the reveal of the 47 players invited to attend the Team Canada Olympic Orientation Seminar next month.

Of course, not all of the 47 players will be going; only 25 will actually make the trip to 'who-gives-a-shit-just-play-hockey'.

It has been announced that the team will have 22 skaters, 3 goalies. The selection process is every boy who ever played NHL on any Sega, Genesis, Nintendo, PS1,2, or 3's dream. This is what most kids in Canada look forward to in today's day and age; the opportunity to not play hockey for their country but instead pick the ultimate dream team to do it for them on their game console.    

So here at ogieoglethorpe we are going to do our part so that the Hockey Canada coaching staff can continue to enjoy their summer vacations.

An intimate August moment with Mike Babcock

Thursday 1 August 2013

Idiocracy; The Smartest Sci-Fi comedy Ever

Published by Whatculture, maintained here for posterity.



You can be forgiven if you have never heard of 2006′s Idiocracy. From the box office numbers, few bothered to actually pay to see Beavis & Butthead creator Mike Judge’s 2nd live action film, his follow up to the generally low key but well-received cult favourite Office Space.
Idiocracy is of the same mold: average people doing average things, trying to adapt to a world that makes no logical sense to the idea of humanity in the first place. While Office Space was set in the days before Y2k, Idiocracy happens to be set 500 years in the future and it’s a spot-on satire of where we, as humans, could be heading.
When it was released America wasn’t ready for Idiocracy, especially after multiple test screenings by American film goers that ironically ranked the film somewhere between completely incompetent to Troma-level stupid. 20th Century Fox decided to stall its theatrical release for nearly a year before finally releasing it nationwide in just seven cities and 130 theaters in total with little to no press or marketing.
Its box office take was a shade under $450,000 USD, but its enduring popularity comes primarily from word of mouth, which is always a good sign of a great film and here I aim to do the same.