Deviation without the Time in Jail, the messed up world of Deviantart

[A little look into the world we artsy folk traverse]

Since my last entry was about someONE very important, I figured this one would be about a sort of place I find important. I have to go into a little detail about the web site I spend the most time on and boost my recognition, to answer a few questions before you ask them.

One, if you know my girlfriend, she has at least shown you a link here. This is Deviantart. It is like. . . . Facebook for artists, kinda. . . . 

I post what I write or draw on the profile you see in the picture above, (though its a small cutout of the whole page) and people do and say what they think. You can 'fave' something, comment on it, and even download it or buy a print of it. That's Deviantart in simple terms. Truth be told, though, it's not the most pleasant of places at times. 

I heard one website describe Dev. Art as a 'malignant tumor on the face of the internet.' At times, that's not far from the truth, in my time on there I've run into some people I just would not want to meet. The vast majority of DA's population is that of attention hungry teenagers that take photo's of themselves with stage blood or warped photo effects, goth or rabid anime fans, to say the least. But, despite that, I still have a profile on there.

I have encountered plenty of people I'm not terribly crazy about, but at the same time I have also encountered plenty of like-minded people on here as well. It's just a place where you have to find your niche. I myself have a lot of fun in the sci-fi genre.

I won't go into too much detail right now, but DA is like a second home to me. I've made friends, I've grown as an artist and writer, and I've even won in a contest before. It's a place where I can be myself, and through that I meet others. God has used me there for many things.

Well, now that you and Deviantart are aquainted, you can find my page here:

I'll start going into specifics for what I'm doing on there, next time.

Tales of the Life, The People: part 1-1

I want to use this cyberspace today to bring up someone that means this world and the next to me. Yes, it's the lovely girl in the picture, my girlfriend Sarah. I haven't known her but for almost a year, and have been dating her only a little more than 6 months, but in that span of time I can say my life is far brighter than just about anytime ever before. She brings out the best in me, a trait I find a good friend makes. And, since I really didn't plan too far in advance for this, I'll list a sort of "candid description" for her. It goes as follows:

1. She's genuine, more than anyone I have met in my time.

2. She's got a heart of gold, I kid you not, she's pretty magnetic 

3. In old-timey terms, she's quite the looker, see. Top of my charts. I love's me a good brunette.

4. There's something of a. . .shine, yes, shine, in her eyes. I always have loved eyes, they reveal a lot more about a person than a simple glance can yield. I could look into those brown shiner's o' hers all day.

5. She's taught me to see more in myself than I knew was there. In the past, I didn't view myself all that highly, but then she came along. At times I still think she's just trying to cheer me up, but I'm learning to take her word for it.

6. She does a lot of things I wish I could do. She's a skilled poet, more than she thinks, she plays piano, something I wanted to try my hand at when I was younger, and she's got a good voice too. Music blossoms within her in ways I can only take educated guesses at.

7. She's able to stand how much of an academic nerd I am. I tend to analyze moments too much without thinking about it, often ruining them, really. Thank you for sticking around.

8. When she doesn't like something, she tells you. As a result of this, she can be on the other end of the stick, (see: apologetic) to make up for it, making for a rather odd mix. But, it certainly helps me see when I've done wrong. And boy, have I. . .

9. She laughs. This is paramount to me that she finds life to be something to laugh in. Without the laugh I know little worth for life.

10. She's imaginative, she can picture what I'm getting at in many of my nerdy tangent moments

11. She tries hard for me, something I often fail at and even more so, don't experience much.

12. She'll make a great mom: I don't presume to be God in saying I know the future, but boy does she give off the maternal vibe. She can be very protective.

13. We agree and disagree. We're both firstborn kids, so we tend to be a bit hard headed, but it at least makes our opinions interesting. As my dad said, 'you hold her back, she pushes you forward.'

14. No matter how much it may not look like it, I love her, I really do.

15. The fact that she's so willing to take a glance into my often rather wacked out world. 

I really could go on, but I think this suffices for now. Love you Sarah! 

 'cuz you make me  ah, DA, the wacked-out ideas you give. . . 

The new Semester. See also, Sarlacc Pit. . .

Yepo, readers, it's summer time. For almost as long as I can remember, that was a good thing.This summer though will be different. I plan to and am already 2 days into my summer semester at Community College. My online Geography test hasn't had anything to show for it yet, but Anthropology, which meets four days a week . . . Oy vey, what a day.

I think I'll enjoy it. I really do. But at the same time I don't get any feeling that I'll walk out of it unchanged. I am a man of faith, my own faith, not someone else's, so I doubt I'll be an easy victim to 'brainwashing' , but at the same time. . . pray for me, friends of faith. Those not of faith. . . well, wish me luck, or something.

That's all for today. Hopefully I'll get some of my original stuff posted on here next. 

Blog Plans

Today, I can say has been a bit of a ride. Not just today, really, more like the past week. So much so, all those classes to finish and all those days spent enjoying my sweet freedom up in Rutherfordton North Carolina, that I haven't put much thought into this here new blog I have made a part of my life.

So, I figured I would make a good start to my blogging life by telling you all just what it is I aim to do on here. A few good examples would be:

General Life Updates: These are just what's going on in my life, personal things about, oh my feelings and what-not. (Except for the feelings part ) These won't happen too often, but they will. As you can see, my life is a bit of a ride.

Idea Descriptions: This is something I would like to spend some time doing on here. I have a lot of ideas, I plan to write them out for a living, and in my free time, I draw them out on my laptop or on paper. I love doing it, it's a passion of mine, and I feel I can use this place and name to spread my knowlege. I have several ideas branching several genre's, and so you'll just have to keep an eye open for some new images and descriptions wot wot. Expect more specifics in future entries.

Character Descriptions: These will mostly just be rants about various characters and themes from across the vast world of entertainment. I'll go into why I like or not so much like the character, and what kind of things they do. Will be done randomly.

Reviews: One of these has already been done. It won't just be for movies though, I plan to review just about everything I do in my time, in a like/dislike fashion. As I said, traditional reviews grate my gratin, and not in a good way. . .

Well, that's all I can think of. Until Next Time.

"If you make God Bleed. . ."

[:It is as you see:]

Well everyone, this afternoon I went and saw a film that I wasn't sure what to expect from, Iron Man 2. I saw the first one on it's opening night in 2008, and I have to say I was rather impressed with it, as far as superhero movies go. It told a story of a rich, narcissistic CEO named Tony Stark that gets abducted by Terrorists and forced to make weapons. But, it's not that simple, the parts he is told to use are all from his company, Stark Industries, a fictional corporate empire of weapon making. Stunned by this, realizing that his company left to him by his father has been doing dirty business under the table, he fools his captors by constructing an armored battlesuit and escaping. Now, if that weren't enough, Tony returns to the lions den, building a new improved suit and solving his problems, both internally and externally. 

I loved it way back when, and still do now. As such, I was a little cautious about the sequel. Sequels. . . have a way of disappointing, but I'd rather see a bad sequel than no sequel at all, so I went, my bud Patrick in tow. And so begins the adventure of Iron Man 2.

Now, I'm not fond of reading most reviews these days, because most of the reviewers I've read write in an aryan, narcissistic way, strutting their opinion as though it were the Friggin' 10 Commandments. So, I won't do a review in the traditional way. I will review the film in two sections, what I liked, and what disappointed me. Continue down below.

WHAT I LIKED:

(This'll be a long list)

-The Opening. It did a good job of showing suspense while still showing us the situation, while still showing us. . .that all is not well in the world. In Russia, you meet Ivan Valko (played by Mickey Rourke), the son of an ex-Soviet scientist that knows a few too many things about the Iron Man suit, and constructs a battlesuit of his own. It then cuts to Iron Man jumping out of a plane, only to land in the middle of his own technology convention, where you quickly see, Tony is enjoying the attention revealing his identity has brought him, but. . .something is amiss. . .

-The character growth. This impressed me a good deal. Tony went through his major bit of growth in the first, and that was not topped, which is a good thing. In this one, his struggle is that he finds out that the Palladium, the rare metal powering his ARC reactor ( the glowy thing on his chest) is slowly poisoning him, but he has no choice but to wear it, so some internal struggle is present. At one point, his all time low, he decides to enjoy his last months alive and throws a big, rather scandalous at moments (you learn to dodge your eyes sometimes) party in his basement, where he takes a rather nasty beating from his best friend James Rhodes (played by Don Cheadle) who claims he isn't 'able' to wear the suit. On that note, Rhodes had a lot more character this time around, even though the actor was swapped from flick 1. He makes a big mistake, and he pays for it, which I like to see happen in a flick. 

-The Villain. While not a specific villain like in a previous film, (Jeff Bridges made a surprisingly good villain in film 1)  Ivan was rather a mix of several villains from Iron Man (who doesn't have many good villains, regrettably) comics, namely Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo. The reason I think this works here, it usually doesn't, is because Iron Man is a story that centers around war. Many of his villains are very much based on this, Crimson Dynamo namely is based on Cold War themes. The Cold War ended a long time ago, so a villain from it would sound like old news to many ears (though it would drive most ' hardcore comic collectors' batty with glee. Sadly for them, they are only one type of people, and the movie was made for everyone, can't please 'em all. Ivan, the villain, is imprisoned after attacking Stark at an formula 1 race in Monaco, when he is busted out by a business "rival" of Stark's named Justin Hammer (played by Sam Rockwell) who would like nothing better than topping Stark. So, he leaves Ivan to his own devices, which proves to be a major mistake, for Ivan builds an army of robot drones and takes over the operation. Overall, he was a good villain, if not taciturn at times. He gave off the 'unstable genius' vibe masterfully, and was very multidimensional, he owned a cockatoo for crying out loud. Plus, he was Russian, and Russian villains earn points around my neck of the woods. You could tell in the final fight that there was a little Zangief (from Street Fighter, a video game series) in him, big lols there.   

-The suits. One of the best parts for me, especially 'the suitcase.' Just watch it and you'll know what I mean. 

The other characters had good looks too. War Machine, an Iron Man suit modified with enough weaponry to make Sauron take a step back, was excellently designed, just how he's supposed to be, not too much like Iron Mans design, but not far away either. The 'drones' produced by Valko were also creative, they made my mind drift to several video games with similiar designs. The Dynamo suit was impressive too, except you only saw it's face for a few seconds before it was taken off to reveal Valko's face.

-The Symbolism. Yes, there's symbolism in Iron Man. In 1, Iron Man is hailed as a protector, a hero, but in 2 his character is compromised when the military is constantly out to get his suit for themselves (I don't blame them, myself). Plus, he's compared to a god at some points, most noteworthy when Valko is in prison, and I quote (In a HEAVY Russian accent), "If you make god bleed, people will stop believing in him." Tony is incomplete, you find, which is a major theme in movie 1. The arc reactor symbolizes this, for before he got it, he thought he was hot stuff, the top of the world, but then he obtained a conscience, and became a 'complete' (the circle is the symbol of completion) human. Now, that is not enough to save him from his own humanity, oh no.

Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is a bigshot in a major UN funded Defense core called SHIELD, and he knew Tony's father, and tells him to look to the past to find the answers to his problems. Tony watches some old film reels, finding out a bit about his rather cold unaffectionate father, and that his father really loved him and valued him, and left a major clue to a '9th Symphony' he had planned in the form of a small scale 'city of the future' his father often showed off. It turns out, this is a blueprint to creating an improved arc reactor that would make an atomic bomb look like a firecracker. He uses this knowledge and creates a small triangle of a fictional un-named 'new element' that makes him feel like superman at the same time. (The triangle is a symbol of divinity, the trinity specifically. It also implies that Tony has grown to respect his past ((one end)) and to value and use his present ((The second end)) to shape his future ((the third end)), again, more symbolism in a 'testosterone/diesel fueled guy film' that 'is nothing but thoughtless violence'.)

-The dialogue. Downey Jr. and Cheadle had GOOD back and forth that totally makes me think of me and Pat sometimes, casual and fun while still serious. Plus, there were several good one liners, such as:

"If you so much as leave the premises, I will taze you and watch Supernanny while you drool on the carpet."

 

"Drop your socks and grab your crocs"

and finally, "It's called being a -" (won't say it here, but hoo boy did it make me laugh when I heard it.

-The final fight. Iron Man and War Machine OBLITERATED the combat drones inside, of all the ironic places, a Japanese Garden they crashed into. The fighting styles were just. . .epicness. Iron Man flies about, delivering punches, martial arts, and acrobatics, while War Machine lathed his enemies with enough bullets to dam up a small river.

-Black Widow. Played by Scarlett Johansson, this femme fatale is a SHIELD agent sent to observe Tony Stark for a mysterious project called 'The Avenger Initiative,' and she kicks BUTT! At one point, she storms a company, and takes out over 10 men in less than a minute. There was one rather questionable scene where she changes into her combat attire in the back of a car, (the pious look away) but it was short, so short that by the time you realize that you saw anything she was offscreen.

All in all, this film had a lot of things I enjoyed. But, no film is perfect. . .

What Disappointed:

-There was little growth on Virginia 'Pepper' Potts (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) part as far as I could see. She lost a little character, I think. The romance between her and Stark was also a little too awkward, I understand where they were going, but it all happened a little too fast.

-The ending was a tad rushed, but not enough to be negative. It's just the first films final battle and ending took a while, this one didn't. Seemed a little off.

-A subtle slam on Captain America where Stark uses his shield as a prop for a big apparatus of some sort. Funny, but it stung a little to a veteran fan like myself.

All in all, I loved it. It was arguably the best sequel to an awesome superhero film to begin with (sorry Spiderman 1, you just barely lost) that I have ever seen, and I look forward to more. And more there will be. Yesiree folks, the world of Marvel movies is about to get a lot bigger in the next couple of years. . . 

Signing off!  

Post numero 3, who I am, what I do, and some Heavy Metal.

[War Machine, a second, more beefed up battlesuit ripped and rearin' to go in the epic sequel Iron Man 2]

Man, to think it's been a week since I got this blog, and to top that off, it's been six months since my life changed. Time is a funny thing, it keeps getting bigger.

Well, anyway, I figured I would talk a bit about, (not too detailed, I'm in a rush today) a few different subjects.

One, what I plan on posting on here.  Frankly, I don't have much of a simplistic theme to go with, and I'm not so able to just go on talking about  my feelings like some people of chromosomal persuasion ;). So, my time will mainly be spent going on about the rather random things I come across, the things that make me me, and perhaps some more trivial things along the way.

Now, today, I will be taking an epic trip with an epic pal to go see an epic sequel at an epic theater, which is at an epic mall at any epic time. Epic much? 

(I get those little face icons off of deviantart)

Yesiree, Iron Man is back, a film that received rather good reviews for a superhero flick back at my senior year of highschool. Only difference is now he has no secret identity and has a second suit with a lot of big guns on it. War machine, my epic friend Patrick's, (who I'm going with) favorite superhero. He even nicknamed one of these     after him. (I don't nickname them all that much)

[Aggron, a Steel type Pokemon from gen. 3]

I'll type my thoughts on the movie after I get back. I'm hoping these words will be positive ones.

                                                           

The peace!

My Second One

Mood: 

Well, howdy all again!

This is my second Post on here, and let me say, I am having some fun with this. I have other social networking profiles on Facebook and DeviantArt (which I will go into detail about in a later entry), but blogger is looking pretty fun.

Well, I would like to start posting about each and every thing that comes to mind, but can't right now. Why?

Well, one dreaded phrase. Exam Season. For the next week, I'll be hard pressed to do much of anything, here or anywhere, so for now. . .






MISMATCHED Tie-Die llama!

Helloes!

Well, this is my first entry here, so everybody better be nice...

Kiddin'. Well, the name's Jared, and this is the start of the wacky little sideshow called a 'web log.'

There are a few things to expect on here if you're a-hankerin' to follow me. One, expect NOTHING.


Two, I may finally have a blog, something I have considered and rejected several times in the past, but I have absolutely no idea what I will be typing about. More likely than not, it will just be. . .about everything. Whatever gets into my head, you all hear about. Fun, eh?

I just turned Twenty the day before yesterday, it was a good time. Um. . . well, folks, I think that about wraps this first entry up. (WARNING: The following statement is riddled with Sarcasm: END WARNING) Fun times, eh? 'Till next time.