Time To Freeze

 Filmmaker and comic book geek Kevin Smith recently commented that it’s time to bring the Mr. Freeze character back to the big screen. After thinking about it for a while damnit he is absolutely right. In my opinion Mr. Freeze is Batman’s number two nemesis behind The Joker. His tragic reasoning for being a villain is a stark contrast to The Jokers chaos at all cost character. The Joker is a fascinating character and will always be known as Batman’s arch-nemesis, his character has been portrayed in several incarnations throughout film. A origin movie is currently in development with Joaquin Phoenix portraying the clown prince, while Jared Leto is still primed to get another run with his portrayal of The Joker.

 Mr. Freeze on the other hand has only been portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the campy Batman and Robin movie. The character of Victor Fries however is worthy of another run and has a good story to tell. There’s no plans anytime soon for him to appear in Ben Afflecks Batman film, so a origin film as part of DC’s stories outside of the DCEU would be the best route.

  A good man who as a scientist just wanted to find a cure for her terminally ill wife, he’s gone mad after an accident and becomes Mr. Freeze. That slow burn from common man to villain would make for a interesting story outside of the caped crusader, think of Walter Whites slow burn in “Breaking Bad”. Of course with the payoff being his final transformation into the villain we know today.

  An Mr. Freeze origin movie has so much room for an interesting backstory set against real life backdrops. The common debate about new and unconventional methods to treat diseases and illnesses, cryogenics as a means to prolong life, the marriage between medicine and politics, and of course lost love. Include a criminal organization or corrupt businessman Dr. Fries runs foul of trying to save his wife. He could be the sad hero in his own film as well, throw in some cameos from other Batman characters to satisfy the Easter egg hunters. Keep the bad cold puns to a minimum and this could be a victory for DC.

  The 1998 animated film Batman and Mr. Freeze: Subzero was Mr. Freezes best incarnation. It displayed heart, action, and consequences in a children’s film. DC needs to green light this sooner than later and let everyone know it’s Time To Freeze.

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Yeah, I Work in IT

I often hear people tell me I’m a “computer wiz” when they ask me a computer question, and expect me to have a answer right away. Well sorry to tell you I’m not, yeah I work in IT but that doesn’t mean I can save all your worlds problems.

 When people hear you work in IT, the expectation is that I can fix your computer, develop your website, build your app that’s going to be the next big thing, hack into your bank account, program the computer chip in your car and so much more.

  Yeah I could probably learn to code and develop apps, but so much time is spent telling people what I don’t do in IT. I can’t find the time to learn the tricks of other trades.

   I work in PC and network repair/support, the lowly guys who are ignored until someone needs their computer fixed. The guys who don’t get any recognition on shows such as “Silicon Valley”. The backbone of organizations the network engineers, server admins, infrastructure admins, that allow the coders at Facebook, Google, and Apple to create exciting new products, apps, and features for your enjoyment.

   Yeah, I could fix your issue but sometimes after a long day or workweek I really don’t feel like taking apart your computer.
Yeah, I work in IT but I’m pretty sure you and I know that paper jam is the reason your report isn’t printing, and know the resolution.

    Yeah, you can call me but honestly you could google it yourself and find out why your phone isn’t streaming your playlist on Spotify.

    IT is a broad field that covers several subfields, so next time you come across someone who works in IT security don’t automatically assume they can tell you about crypto currency. Yeah, they probably could but sometimes they don’t feel like that shit.

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Essence Experience Part 2

  

  On to the concerts which everyone anticipates. Held at the Superdome the concerts consist of the main stage, and several smaller lounges spread out throughout the building with various artist performing. Since I'm lazy I stayed in the main stage area. Let's start with Friday Night, due to working on C.P. time I missed a good portion of Miguel's set. What I saw Miguel put on a great show and he deserved a little more stage time. Next up was uncle Snoop D-o-double G. He performed previous bangers such as “Nuthin’ but a ‘g’ thang”, “who am I”, “ Beautiful”, “Drop it like it's hot”, and “Next episode”. He then invited Fred Hammond and The Clark Sisters on stage and took the crowd to church.

   The headliners for the night were The Roots with special guest’s. I like the Roots but I'm not sure they have enough star power to headline a event of this magnitude. Their special guest were Erykah Badu,Jill Scott, and Anthony Hamilton. Each performed their own set of songs and performed well but the whole headlining act seemed flat. Kirk Franklin made a surprise performance at the end of the night performing “I am here" and another song which slips my mind, before sending everyone home two stepping to “Stomp".

   Saturday night things got better. Again due to my C.P. time and traffic I missed Xscape performing, managed to catch a song and a half. Next up was Queen Latifah after a fire intro video she came out performing several jazz melodies and put the majority of the crowd to sleep. Queen Latifah actually has a nice singing voice but umm it wasn't working. Her set was saved by several special guest she bought in the later end of her set. Brandy, MC Lyte, and YoYo all came on stage for a rendition of “I wanna be down” remix. Next up was Remy Ma who bought mountains of energy for “All the way up”.

    Queens next guest never disappoints with her energy during performances Missy Elliott. Performing hits such as “Get ur freak on”, “Work It”, “Pass That Dutch", and “Lose Control". The mantle was then passed to legends Salt N’ Pepa who bought high energy as well coming out the gate with early hits such as “mic sounds nice" and “I’ll take your man" following up with “Shoop", “Whatta man", and “Push It". Queen returned to rap “Ladies First" with Monie Love, then ending her set with the classic still relevant today “Unity".

    Saturday night belonged to the Queen of Hip Hop Mary J. Blige. She gave her all her  heartbreak and heartache to the crowd, gave the famous Mary dance, and much more. I enjoy Mary's music and this was my first time seeing her concert. She more than held her own on stage belting out songs like “Everything”, “My Life", “Not gon cry", and “No more drama". Hitting them over the head with classic “Real love”, letting the audience know everything will be “just fine" and that we’re a family so let's celebrate a “Family affair”. Mary J. Knows her audience and gives them her all.      

    Which leads us to my personal favorite Sunday Night. I made sure I was on time to see Teddy Riley and the new jack swing experience. The new jack swing era is one of my favorites in music, it paved the way for the r&b/hip hop fusion sound that is so prevalent today and is still underrated. Teddy Riley is surprisingly a good showman and has a stage presence. He bought out guest such as Hi-Five to perform “Like the way" and their rendition of Ella Mae “Boo’d up". That part was a waste Hi-Five has several songs of their own they could have performed. They were  followed by Kool Moe Dee. Next up was SWV who gave us “Weak", “So into you", and “Right here". My complaint against them was they didn't perform “Anything" that is my shit, but cant win them all.

      Next up was Tank performing a rendition of Bobby Browns “My Prerogative” followed by Ginuwine performing “Remember the Time". Next up was Wreckx n effect “Shake your rump" and “New Jack Swing”, MC Lyte came aboard for “Rough Neck" followed by performing Queen Pens “A party ain't a party" to support Queen Pen during a health battle. Sadly at multiple points during this set, the performers were hindered by microphone issues to the point Teddy and Co. hijacked the show until it was fixed.

     Blackstreet next came on stage with Dave Hollister belting out lead on “Don’t leave” and “Before I let you go". Partytime  kicked in when the beat for “No Diggity" dropped and kept going from there. Guy reunited to “Groove Me", “Let’s Chill” “Goodbye Love", and of course “I like".

      The originator Doug E. Fresh stopped by for a never gets old rendition of “The Show", some beatboxing only Doug E. Can do. And a little Doug E. freestyle to let the masses know who he is to “teach me how to dougie".

     The last surprise of the New Jack set was an original new jack star Keith Sweat. Singing “Make It Last Forever" and “I want her" he had all the forty and over woman bout to let loose. The New Jack Swing Experience was a highlight for me and all those artist still got it.

      Fantasia hit the stage next for "Without Me", “Free yourself" and “When I see you". I honestly didn't know the other Fantasia songs, but this was my second time seeing her and she gives 110% at every performance. She sings, she dances or twerks whatever her heart desires at that time, engages the crowd, cracks jokes she does it all. Her set was kind of short and I wasn't sure if that was by design or time constraints. Either way she deserved more stage time

    Sundays headliner the Icon, sister to my favorite artist MJ, Janet Jackson. Despite being in her early 50s Janet still moves flawlessly. Playing hits from Control to Velvet Rope and beyond. Janet let everyone know she still has it and don't sleep on her.

    She performed “Scream" intercutting portions of the video with MJ and they had me on my feet the whole time. Ending the night with “Rhythm Nation" Janet reminded us that times have changed but haven't, and it’s up to the people to really change it.

    Janet's act did not end until after midnight and several people left to either get ready for their flight in the morning or were just tired. While not anyone's fault it was kind of disrespectful to the show Janet was putting on to see so many people leaving at one time during her performance.

    All in all it was a great weekend of celebrating the culture and music. I saw so many legends perform I wouldn't have seen perform otherwise. Looking for some good music and an experience check out Essence.

    

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Essence Experience Part 1

For the past 20 plus years, every first weekend in July New Orleans becomes the epicenter of Black culture. The Essence Music Festival, and not only is it a festival it’s a experience and a celebration of our culture.

 I was privileged to attend Essence this year and it truly is a bucket list item. Let's start with how many black people you see over the weekend embracing positivity and love. Multiple generations come to this event, primarily woman attended by woman a single guy on his A game would be in heaven during Essence weekend. If he doesn't get at least one phone number he needs to adjust his game.

 The Essence convention held every day during the weekend is a overwhelming experience. Backed by some big name sponsors such as Coca Cola, Disney,  McDonalds, Ford, AT&T and Wal Mart among others. The convention contains screenings for new films and television shows, celebrity interviews, independent vendors, meet and greets, workshops on financial literacy, building brands, gaining business, overcoming hurdles in life and so much more.

  Be prepared to walk the expansive space and stand in line for all the FREE stuff being given out. Most the free items and sample sizes given away are items you need. I received 3 bars of deodorant, some soap, and other trinkets from a Dove giveaway bag.

   Most importantly though you saw Woman taking their daughters, granddaughters, or little sisters to Essence and get inspired and learn young just great and beautiful they are.

  Nothing's perfect no matter how well planned out it is, and the Essence convention was no exception. I waited in a ridiculous long line to meet Regina Hall and the cast of Power, only for them to take photos for 20 minutes and maybe meet 15 people. There wasn't much communication provided to folks about what was what. Of course if you asked a staff member a question, you received a different answer than the last staff member you asked. All the meet and greets were confined to one space which didn’t help matters. I'm not sure how meet and greets were handled the rest of the weekend or in previous years, but it was horrible this year.

   There's also small companies and vendors selling their products inside the convention. Paintings, workout gear, fish fry, bbq sauce, statues, and more all available from vendors. Outside the convention there's even more vendors selling t-shirts, hair care products, soap, cd’s and more. There were also promotional giveaways outside the convention. Walk a few blocks away all food trucks selling food you can eat while your on the go.

    Now Essence should really send Universal Studios and the cast and crew of “Girls Trip" a thank you gift. There were so many groups of woman who were clearly inspired by Girls Trip and The Flossy Posse down there. A newspaper article mentioned there were over 500,000 people in New Orleans and it clearly showed. After Monday Morning it looked like a completely different place.

  Along with the girls trip inspired crowd, there’s somebodies ol’ uncle who still think they cool and can dress. Hell going down I felt like I was on soul plane.

  Essence is definitely catered to woman, and they throw a guy a bone here and there. If you like good music the concert is definitely for you. Love Black culture you’ll appreciate the convention's. It truly is a celebration and a bucket list item and I highly recommend attending one year if you can.

  

  

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Last Dragon Revival

 Reboots, reimages, and quasi-sequels are all the rage now. On the flip side streaming video on demand is rapidly becoming the king of good quality content. With demand for quality content so high, streaming providers have to dig deep for original content and the archives to see what can be bought back.        

          

  After watching season 2 of Luke Cage this past weekend, an idea popped in my head. One of my personal favorites The Last Dragon needs to be bought back as a tv series. The Last Dragon is a cult classic and had a perfect blend of campiness, comedy, and action. Not to mention classic lines like “Who’s the master?” and “Won’t you teach me some moves.”, and everyone was trying to find the glow. There has been talk for years of doing a reboot of the Last Dragon but nothing has ever came about with it.      

  YouTube Red’s recent hit “Cobra Kai” proved there is a market for older properties that are bought to modern times and  provided a blueprint of how it could be done. The tv series could pick up during the present day 30 plus years after the events of the movie, and feature Leroy Green better known as  Bruce Leroy helping a student become the master of the 21st century.

   Since Bruce Leroy was oblivious to everything around him that didn’t involve martial arts, it would make for hilarious situations of him still being oblivious in today’s high tech world. Throw in a engaging villain much on the level or better than Sho’nuff, that both Bruce Leroy and his student can face off against and it would be TV gold.

    Now that black nerds and geeks are accepted more within our community, the show could also be a showcase of that subculture, how diverse and vibrant it is,  and just how much the Asian culture influences a lot of us. The movie provided a little insight but the show could dig a lot deeper.

    Unfortunately with the deaths of Vanity, Julius Curry, and Leo O’Brien, iconic characters such as Laura Charles, Sho’Nuff, and Leroy’s little brother Richie could not be reprised. The characters could be given good backstories as to why their not in the series but still exist in the world. On the flip side we could catch up with master wannabe Johnny, his little brother, Mama and Papa Green, Keisha Knight Pullliam could make a cameo as the younger sister with the ever changing name, we could even see what Eddie Arcadian has been up to all these years.

     All the ingredients are there to make a TV show semi-reboot of the Last Dragon a success. Make Brooklyn and Harlem characters within the show and integral to the hero’s battle, between 10-13 episodes and people will fall in love with the Last Dragon all over again. A new generation will come to appreciate the franchise and learn just what the glow is. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube Red, Brown Sugar someone make this happen.

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Relationship with Money

    Cheap, frugal, thrifty, penny pincher, these are all terms one may hear when they try to save every dollar they make. I’m very cheap and I hear those terms all the time, after a while you shrug it off and begin to embrace it as part of your personality. However I often ask myself and others what is wrong with being cheap? Unfortunately no one has an honest clear cut answer.

   When it comes to money and how to spend and manage it, there are two different ends of the spectrum. There are those who use the frequent sayings “I work hard for my money so I’m going to spend it”, or “You can’t take it with you, live everyday like it’s your last”. Then there are folks such as myself on other side, always looking for the best deal. Saving money in case some shit goes down, doesn’t see the need in paying for certain items because a “name” is attached to it, “I work too hard for my money to just give it away” or quite simply the thought of “my money is better with me”. 

    These opinions raise a good question, are people’s relationship with money built only by their upbringing and environment or are other factors in play? I’ve heard people say they didn’t have a lot growing up, so they get what they want now. I’ve also met people who had good middle class lives and they spend for the sake of spending. I’ve also met people from comfortable backgrounds who are as cheap as they come and sometimes ashamed they came from money. Hard to believe some people think that way but it’s true.

    Upbringing is another factor, if you have cheap parents who always managed and budgeted their money chances are you’ll pick up those habits. If you saw members of your family enjoy their money and still sustain their lifestyle, one may think hell why not. Teachings during ones youth definitely plays a part in someone’s relationship with money.

    Next to environment and upbringing, media of course plays a role in people’s relationship with money. When watching TV and seeing name brand and luxury products everywhere, people want to attain that. Having a luxury product provides an image of a baller, high maintenance, “My situation good”, or whatever to give the illusion you’re eating good and more.

   Or is it an unexplainable factor that makes someone cheap with their money or use money for its intention, to spend it? I honestly believe I came out the womb cheap as I have always been stingy with my money. When I was a kid and I would receive Christmas or Birthday money, I would hold onto it as long as I could. Funny thing is I’m not sure where I get that habit from, both of my parents have cheap quirks depending on what it is, I had grandparents at both end of the table spenders and savers, and other relatives who had different opinions on money. Here I am today a very frugal individual. 

   Money is what makes the world rotate, it’s how people pay for goods and services, and access to it is a factor in a person’s lifestyle. Just like anything else individuals relationship’s with money is different and works for that individual. Which means it may not necessarily be a good or bad thing that they are spenders or savers, and it may not be any particular reason why they lean one way or another. It’s just who they are, for now I’ll keep taking the cheap jokes.

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The Oriole’s & the Contract Curse

Simply put The Oriole’s are abysmal as ever at the midway point of the season. At the beginning of the season Dan Duquette mentioned after Memorial Day the team would re-evaluate things, well all the signs point to rebuild now. After the late season collapse the team incurred last year, fans speculated things would be bad this year, maybe average if we caught a few breaks but not downright miserable.  

              

   The Oriole’s fell hard very fast into the season, and it seems like everything that has been a achilles heel for the team in past seasons came back to bite them in the ass. Lack of solid pitching, lack of depth at various positions and minor league players who could make an immediate impact if called up, relying on the long ball, and lack of timely baserunning.

     In addition to all of those I’m starting to wonder if the Oriole’s are in fact cursed. I’m not one who believes in curses and superstitions but damnit something is up. I believe it’s the Curse of contracts, everytime this team steps out and gives big contracts to players it bites them in the ass.

  Back in the late 90’s the Oriole’s got bit big time by the highest contract given in team history to Albert Belle at five years for $65 million, after a couple of lackluster seasons he was forced to retire after a chronic hip condition and the Oriole’s were stuck with this contract for a few more seasons. Paying out dead money, Albert was only the tip of the iceberg as similar situations occurred with other players such as Scott Erickson, Sidney Ponson, Charles Johnson, even Brian Roberts among others.

 During the 14 year drought fans often complained that the Orioles were reluctant to spend the money necessary to compete in the AL East Division. After some smart rebuilding from Andy Macphail and the hiring of Buck Showalter things started to turn around. Once Mcphail resigned and Dan Duquette came aboard the tide shifted for the better and playoff baseball returned to Baltimore.

  That streak of winning baseball was a little hampered by the signing of Ubaldo Jimenez signed in 2014 to a 4 year $84 million dollar deal the richest team contract given to a pitcher. He underperformed all 4 seasons during his team here often unreliable he spent time in the bullpen, and many blame him for the Orioles early exit out of the 2016 playoffs.

The damaged doesn't stop there, in 2016 Chris Davis was a free agent. Fan’s called for him to be resigned and he eventually was given the richest contract in team history at 7 years for $161 million. He has not done jack since signing that massive contract significantly underperforming. In fact this season he has been bounced around the lineup from lead-off to cleanup in hopes of sparking a fire underneath him, all the while fans calling for his riddance.

Chris Davis isn't the only culprit who has failed since cashing in. Mark Trumbo and Darren O’Day have also notoriously regressed since resigning with the team. Andrew Cashner and Alex Cobb were bought in this season to stabilize the starting rotation and while decent at times, at others they perform horribly.

Now with the team about to enter another rebuilding mood,  it’s kind of hard to argue with the Orioles hesitation to award players with bank breaking contracts. Whether by injuries, age catching up with players, or some bizarre circumstances big contracts don't seem to work for this team.

Being a small market team in a division with teams who have deep pockets, the Orioles aren't getting good returns on their investments. They listened to the fans to keep the core together and so far its not working out for them. You have to spend to compete but I’d be shocked if they didn't tighten the pockets during the next rebuilding phase. The organization really needs to reevaluate their scouting from pitching prospects to international talent. Don't know who they pissed off but the O’s truly are under a contract curse.

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